Stone handaxe
Lower Palaeolithic, about 1.2 million years
old
From Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
The first great invention
This tool is called a handaxe. Handaxes were first made in
Olduvai Gorge about 1.5 million years ago. They were still in use
there some 500,000 years ago by which time their manufacture and
use had spread throughout Africa, south Asia, western Asia and
Europe. They have even been found as far east as Korea in recent
excavations. No other cultural artefact is known to have been made
for such a long time or across such a huge geographical range.
Handaxes are always made from stone and were held in the hand
during use. Many have this characteristic teardrop or pear shape
which might have been inspired by the outline of the human
hand.
This medium-sized example is made from fine-grained, green
volcanic lava called phonolite. Using a stone hammer, the maker has
carefully struck flakes alternately from both faces around the
entire edge, making it thinner at the tip and thicker and heavier
at the bottom. This may seem simple but requires a skilful use of
force. The edge is low angled and regular, suitable for use as
cutting tool.
Handaxes are often referred to as Acheulian. This term is used
for the long period of the Lower Palaeolithic during which handaxes
were made. It comes from the site of St Acheul in northern France
which was also rich in handaxes of more recent age.
L.S.B. Leakey, Olduvai Gorge (Cambridge, University Press, 1951)
K.D. Schick and N. Schick, Making silent stones speak. Hu (London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1993)