hand ax
Quick Summary
A hand ax is a hand tool used for chopping, splitting, chipping, and piercing. The earliest hand axes originated in the Stone Age as simple stone implements, with wooden handles added around 30,000 BC. These prehistoric tools, often made of flint, featured a pointed end for cutting and a rounded end for gripping.1
The Acheulean industry, which began between 1.7 million and 1.5 million years ago, is characterized by the development of the hand ax. These tools were typically almond-shaped and bifacially worked, meaning they were flaked on both sides to create a sharper, more effective cutting edge. While not hafted, these hand axes were primarily used as knives but also for chopping, scraping, and piercing. Modern axes, made of steel, have largely been replaced by powered machinery but remain a versatile tool.234
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Acheulean industry…characteristic Acheulean tools are termed hand axes and cleavers. Considerable improvement in the technique of producing hand axes occurred over the long period; anthropologists sometimes distinguish each major advance in method by a separate number or name. Early Acheulean tool types are called Abbevillian (especially in Europe); the last Acheulean…
Read More…characteristic Acheulean tools are termed hand axes and cleavers. Considerable improvement in the technique of producing hand axes occurred over the long period; anthropologists sometimes distinguish each major advance in method by a separate number or name. Early Acheulean tool types are called Abbevillian (especially in Europe); the last Acheulean…
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hand toolThe Acheulean industry…typical implement was the flint hand ax (sometimes called a fist hatchet). Throughout the ages the plump chopper and its bluntly angled crest had been streamlined by starting with a longer piece of rock and flaking the entire surface to produce an almond-shaped (amygdaloid) implement 20–25 cm (8–10 inches) long.…
Read More…typical implement was the flint hand ax (sometimes called a fist hatchet). Throughout the ages the plump chopper and its bluntly angled crest had been streamlined by starting with a longer piece of rock and flaking the entire surface to produce an almond-shaped (amygdaloid) implement 20–25 cm (8–10 inches) long.…
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Paleolithic PeriodPaleolithic toolmaking…new Lower Paleolithic tool, the hand ax, appeared. The earliest European hand axes are assigned to the Abbevillian industry, which developed in northern France in the valley of the Somme River. A later, more-refined hand ax tradition is seen in the Acheulean industry, evidence of which has been found in…
Read More…new Lower Paleolithic tool, the hand ax, appeared. The earliest European hand axes are assigned to the Abbevillian industry, which developed in northern France in the valley of the Somme River. A later, more-refined hand ax tradition is seen in the Acheulean industry, evidence of which has been found in…
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IndiaThe Indian Paleolithic…the same region the earliest hand axes (of the type commonly associated with Acheulean industry) have been dated paleomagnetically to about 500,000 years ago.
Read More…the same region the earliest hand axes (of the type commonly associated with Acheulean industry) have been dated paleomagnetically to about 500,000 years ago.
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