Acheulean Hand Axe  Â
Homo Erectus – one million years ago
Acheulean hand axes are large flaked stone tools representing the oldest and longest-used stone tools ever made by human ancestors, primarily made by Homo Erectus from 1.5 million to 250,000 years ago. They were versatile and used for many tasks like digging, scraping, and chopping. Earlier examples had specific styles and designs possibly for different tasks. Later types were more symmetrical and uniform thought all are easily recognized as Acheulean industry.
This large 23cm 1kg Acheulean hand ax from Mauritania dates from about 1 million to 500,000 ya as its size and less-symmetrical style are typical of earlier Acheulean tools. It has a well-defined slightly angled tip and a hand grasp area designed to fit two hands comfortably with perfect balance. Like many early examples, one face has a center pyramidal bump leaving only one way to grasp the tool comfortably. Held this way, the angled tip points slightly inward providing stronger strokes. A possible example of ergometric design a million years ago.
