Handaxe
Object
Flint tool
Production date
300000bc - 328000bc
Object number
1991.680
Physical Description
This is a grey and brown flint tool which has been formed into a symmetrical teardrop shape.
Object history
Handaxes were the Old Stone Age version of the Swiss Army knife. By studying marks left on the surface of stone axes, archaeologists can tell they had multiple uses, including butchering and skinning animals, cutting wood and even digging.
Handaxes are shaped out of a larger piece of stone. Flakes are removed by hitting it against another stone or piece of antler (known as ‘knapping’). To create these elegant, symmetrical shapes would require forward planning and great technical skill.
Rather than being attached to a handle, they were handheld. Handaxes are the most frequently found item from the Old Stone Age, and have become iconic of the time period.
This stone tool was not made by a modern human, but members of a different species – the Neanderthals.
Handaxes are shaped out of a larger piece of stone. Flakes are removed by hitting it against another stone or piece of antler (known as ‘knapping’). To create these elegant, symmetrical shapes would require forward planning and great technical skill.
Rather than being attached to a handle, they were handheld. Handaxes are the most frequently found item from the Old Stone Age, and have become iconic of the time period.
This stone tool was not made by a modern human, but members of a different species – the Neanderthals.
Associated Event
Material
Stone
Dimension
length (Handle): 192mm
length (head): 85mm
width (head): 55mm
length (head): 85mm
width (head): 55mm
Exhibition Label
A Hunter-Gatherer's Handaxe, Stoke Newington, 300,000 BC
A Neanderthal hunter-gatherer made this flint tool when Britain was more like a south African savannah, when huge ancient elephants roamed the landscape. Their handaxe was lost for hundreds of thousands of years until rediscovered by early archaeologists in the 1800s. It is now one of the oldest objects in the museum.
A Neanderthal hunter-gatherer made this flint tool when Britain was more like a south African savannah, when huge ancient elephants roamed the landscape. Their handaxe was lost for hundreds of thousands of years until rediscovered by early archaeologists in the 1800s. It is now one of the oldest objects in the museum.
On display?
Yes