“A hinge detachment occurs when the plane of the fracture, "turns abruptly outwards and leaves the edge of the flake blunt and smoothly rounded. These fractures are particularly liable to be mistaken for polishing ..." (Trustees of the British Museum, 1968, 29).
Hinging occurs because the angle of detachment is incorrect (i.e. at 90 degrees) and the face of the core is concave or straight. (Se Cotterell and Kammiga 1987, 700-701 and Crabtree 1982., 37).

It is the exact opposite of a plunge fracture.



hinged negative removal

This occurs as the characteristic "hook" on the face of a core when a hinged flake has been detached. It requires an intentional correction blow to be applied to rid the core face of this feature, which will continue to occur repeatedly if the platform and the face of the core are not adjusted. As noted by Cotterell and Kammiga 1987, 701. hinged flakes and hinged removals on the face of a core are "undesirable" elements.