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A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. [1] It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger piece by knapping , or hitting against another stone.
In the early twentieth century, these gravel pits yielded many Paleolithic tools of the Acheulian and Levallois industries, associated with the Neanderthals, including the largest hand axe ever found. The site is in the Lynch Hill Terrace of the River Thames, dating to the Wolstonian Stage between 350-200,000 years ago. [4] [5]
The abundant hand axes are characteristic of the Acheulean period, made by hominins between about 600,000 and 900,000 years ago [7] along what was then the shore of a now dried-up lake. Fossils of various animals have also been found, including those of extinct species of hippo, elephant, zebra, giraffe, and baboon, likely to have been ...
The Dane axe or long axe (including Danish axe and English long axe) is a type of European early medieval period two-handed battle axe with a very long shaft, around 0.9–1.2 metres (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 11 in) at the low end to 1.5–1.7 metres (4 ft 11 in – 5 ft 7 in) or more at the long end.
In 1797, John Frere found flint hand axes, now known to date back 400,000 years, in a deposit twelve feet deep, and commented that "the situation in which these weapons were found may tempt us to refer them to a very remote period indeed; even beyond that of the present world".
Hand axes found by Marston at Swanscombe in the British Museum (not on display) The area was already known for the finds of numerous Palaeolithic-era handaxes—mostly Acheulean and Clactonian artifacts, some as much as 400,000 years old—when in 1935/1936 work at Barnfield Pit uncovered two fossilised skull fragments.
The other five, found in the second location, also showed "different approaches to manufacture, and different design targets". Thus the seven hand axes are taken as evidence of the Acheulean pattern which allowed for individuality within certain parameters. [4] The fires at Beeches pit were large, and were kept going for long periods of time.
There are many different types of flint axes. A specific one that appeared during the Early Stone Age was the core axe. This is an unpolished flint axe that is roughly hewn. The cutting edge is usually the widest part and has a pointed butt. Flake axes are created from the chips from the core axe. [1] Late Stone Age flint axe, about 31 cm long