Acheulean handaxes from Kent. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron and ovate.

A handaxe is a bifacial Paleolithic core tool. This kind of axe is typical of the lower (Acheulean) and the middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) and is the longest used tool of human history. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (896x1464, 117 KB) Summary Acheulean handaxes from Kent. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (896x1464, 117 KB) Summary Acheulean handaxes from Kent. ... Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. ... For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... // The Paleolithic is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. ... Axe For other uses, see Axe (disambiguation). ... Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. ... Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age. ...

Distribution

Handaxes are only found in Africa, Europe and Northern Asia, while South-Asia retained flake-industries (Hoabhinian).

New archaeologic evidence from Baise, China shows that there were also handaxes in eastern Asia. 1 2 3 Baise (simplified Chinese: 百色; pinyin: Bósè (old) BǎiSè (new)) is a prefecture-level city in Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. ...

science mag

Production

The older handaxes were produced by direct percussion with a stone hammer and can be distinguished by their thickness and a sinous border. Later Mousterian handaxes were produced with a soft billet of antler or wood and are much thinner, more symmetrical and have a straight border. Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis and dating to the Middle Paleolithic, the middle part of the Old Stone Age. ...

An experienced knapper needs less than 15 minutes to produce a handaxe. A flintknapper is an individual who shapes flint or other stone through the process of knapping or lithic reduction no shit sherlock, to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls. ...

Raw materials

Handaxes are mainly made of flint, but rhyolites, phonolites, quartzites and other rather coarse rocks were used as well. Obsidian was rarely used, as the material shatters easily. This article is about the sedimentary rock. ... This page is about a volcanic rock. ... Phonolite is an igneous, volcanic (extrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. ... Quartzite Quartzite (from German Quarzit[1]) is a hard, metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. ... This article is about a type of volcanic glass. ...

Shapes

Several basic shapes, like cordate, oval, triangular etc. have been distinguished, but their chronological significance is not agreed upon.

Function

As most handaxes have a sharp border all around, there is no agreement about their use. Interpretations range from cutting and chopping tools to digging implements, flake cores, the use in traps and a purely ritual significance, maybe in courting behaviour. An interpretation from William H. Calvin maintains that some of the rounder examples could have served as "killer frisbees" meant to be thrown at a herd of animals at a water hole so as to stun one of them. There are no indications of hafting, and indeed some artifacts are far too large for that. Thus a thrown hand axe would not usually have penetrated deeply enough to cause very serious injuries. Nevertheless it could have been an effective weapon for defence against predators William H. Calvin, Ph. ...

Sources

• A. S. Barnes/H. H. Kidder, Differentes techniques de débitage à La Ferrassie. Bull. Soc. Préhist. Franç. 33, 1936, 272-288.
• C. A Bergmann/M. B. Roberts, Flaking technology at the Acheulean site of Boxgrove, West Sussex, England. Rev. Arch. Picardie, Numero Special, 1-2, 1988, 105-113.
• F. Bordes, Le couche Moustérienne du gisement du Moustier (Dordogne): typologie et techniques de taille. Soc. Préhist. Française 45, 1948, 113-125.
• F. Bordes, Observations typologiques et techniques sur le Perigordien supérieur du Corbiac (Dordogne). Soc. Préhist. Française 67, 1970, 105-113.
• F. Bordes, Le débitage levallois et ses variantes. Bull. Soc. Préhist. Française 77/2, 1980, 45-49.
• P. Callow, The Olduvai bifaces: technology and raw materials. In: M. D. Leakey/D. A. Roe, Olduvai Gorge Vol. 5. (Cambridge 1994) 235-253.
• H. L. Dibble, Reduction sequences in the manufacture of Mousterian implements in France. In: O. Soffer (Hrsg.), The Pleistocene of the Old world, regional perspectives (New York 1987).
• P. R. Fish, Beyond tools: middle palaeolithic debitage: analysis and cultural inference. J. Anthr. Res. 1979, 374-386.
• F. Knowles, Stone-Worker’s Progress (Oxford 1953).
• Marek Kohn/Steven Mithen Axes, products of sexual selection?, Antiquity 73, 1999, 518-26.
• K. Kuman, The Oldowan Industry from Sterkfontein: raw materials and core forms. In: R. Soper/G. Pwiti (Hrsg.), Aspects of African Archaeology. Papers from the 10th Congress of the Pan-African Association for Prehistory and Related Studies. Univ. of Zimbabwe Pubilcations (Harare 1996) 139-146.
• J. M. Merino, Tipología lítica. Editorial Munibe 1994. Suplemento, (San Sebastián 1994). ISSN 1698-3807.
• H. Müller-Beck, Zur Morphologie altpaläolithischer Steingeräte. Ethnogr.-Archäol.-Zeitschr. 24, 1983, 401-433.
• M. Newcomer, Some quantitative experiments in handaxe manufacture. World Arch. 3, 1971, 85-94.
• Th. Weber, Die Steinartefakte des Homo erectus von Bilzingsleben. In: D. Mania/Th. Weber (Hrsg.), Bilzingsleben III. Veröff. Landesmus. Vorgesch. Halle 39, 1986, 65-220.

Alred Smith Barnes (born January 28, 1817 in New Haven, Connecticut; died February 17, 1888 in Brooklyn, New York) was an American publisher. ... Flint biface from Saint-Acheul, France. ... Bilzingsleben is a findspot of early palaeolithic human remains in Thuringia, Germany. ...

External links

• Stone Age Hand Axes, abotech.com edition
• Stone Age Hand Axes, Kowalski's personal edition

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