Acheulean handaxes from Kent. Acheulean (also spelled Acheulian,) is the name given to an Archaeological industry of Stone tool manufacture associated with prehistoric Hominins KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron and ovate.

A handaxe is a bifacial Lower and Middle Paleolithic core tool. The term Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) (from Greek παλαιός palaios, " Old " and λίθος Lithos, "stone" A broader definition of a tool is an entity used to interface between two or more domains that facilitates more effective action of one domain upon the other This kind of axe is typical of the lower (Acheulean) and the middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) and is the longest used tool of human history. The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape split and cut Wood, Harvest timber, as a Weapon Acheulean (also spelled Acheulian,) is the name given to an Archaeological industry of Stone tool manufacture associated with prehistoric Hominins Mousterian is a name given by archaeologists to a style of predominantly Flint tools (or industry) associated primarily with Homo neanderthalensis Prehistory See also Prehistory Paleolithic See also Paleolithic, Recent African Origin, Early Homo sapiens Not to be confused with a Wood Axe. The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape split and cut Wood, Harvest timber, as a Weapon

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. Baise ( Simplified Chinese: 百色 Pinyin: Bósè (old BǎiSè (new is a Prefecture-level city in China 's Guangxi Zhuang China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National 1 2 3

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Production

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

An experienced flintknapper needs less than 15 minutes to produce a good quality handaxe, (in fact a simple handaxe can be made from a beach pebble in less than 3 minutes). A knapper is a person who shapes Flint, Chert, Obsidian or other stone through the process of knapping or Lithic reduction to manufacture

Raw materials

Handaxes are mainly made of flint, but rhyolites, phonolites, quartzites and other rather coarse rocks were used as well. Flint (or flintstone) is a hard sedimentary Cryptocrystalline form of the Mineral Quartz, categorized as a variety of Chert This page is about a volcanic rock For the ghost town see Rhyolite Nevada, and for the satellite system see Rhyolite/Aquacade. Phonolite is an evolved lava which is considered as forming in shallow Magma chambers Phonolite is an igneous, volcanic ( Extrusive) rock Quartzite (from German Quarzit) not to be confused with the Mineral Quartz, is a hard Metamorphic rock which was originally In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere Obsidian was rarely used, as the material shatters easily. Obsidian is a naturally occurring Glass formed as an extrusive Igneous rock.

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. (The current majority view of their use, is some form of chopping or even digging tool for general purpose use, probably mainly for cutting meat and hacking through bone & muscule fibre).

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. William H Calvin PhD (born 30 April 1939 is a Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. There are few indications of handaxe hafting, and some artifacts are far too large for that. However a thrown hand axe would not usually have penetrated deeply enough to cause very serious injuries. Additionally many handaxes are very small.

Tony Baker presented an argument in favor of the flake core theory. This theory claims that the hand axe was not a tool at all, but was a core from which flakes were removed. The flakes were then used as tools. It is worth noting however that handaxes are often found with retouch (i. e sharpening or shaping), thereby casting doubt on the theory of them being used solely as a flake core (the question remains, why would early man carefully straighten up and retouch something which was just a simple flake core?). Other theories suggest the shape is part tradition and partly a byproduct of the way it is manufactured; When a handaxe is knapped, the resulting shape is to some extent a function of the size and shape of the original flint nodule, (and the methods used to knapp it). Since many early handaxes appear to be made from simple flint pebbles (i. e from river or beach deposits), and because most pebbles are rounded - when making, it is necessary to detach a 'starting flake', which is often much larger than the rest of the flakes will be (due to the oblique angle of a rounded pebble requiring greater force to dettach it), thus creating an asymmetry in the handaxe, when the asymmetry is corrected by removing extra material from the other faces, a trend toward a more pointed (oval) form factor is achieved, (knapping a completely circular handaxe actaully requires considerable correction of the shape to achieve). Studies in the 1990's at Boxgrove in which a Butcher was given a handaxe and told to butcher a carcass revealed that the handaxe was perfect for getting at the bone Marrow which is high in protien and vitamins and was highly prized as a food source. Boxgrove is a Village and Civil parish in the Chichester District of the English county of West Sussex, about five kilometres (3

References

• A. S. Barnes/H. Alfred Smith Barnes ( January 28, 1817 in New Haven Connecticut – February 17, 1888 in Brooklyn New York) was an American 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 archaeology a biface is a two-sided Stone tool, manufactured through a process of Lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides 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. Bilzingsleben is a findspot of early Palaeolithic human remains in Thuringia, Germany. In: D. Mania/Th. Weber (Hrsg. ), Bilzingsleben III. Veröff. Landesmus. Vorgesch. Halle 39, 1986, 65-220.

External links

• Stone Age Hand Axes, abotech. com edition