Are these Britain's Oldest Handaxes?

What is a handaxe?

The handaxe is the most emblematic early human stone tool, but they still lie beyond our complete understanding.

They first appeared in Africa around 1.7 million years ago and are found in Europe, the Indian subcontinent and China. In Britain they were in use just over 500,000 years ago and disappeared from use around 50,000 years ago. 

These almond or teardrop shaped tools were crafted by striking flakes from both sides of a stone cobble and are also known as bifaces for this reason. It would take years to learn the technique to create one but only 15-20 minutes to make one. They were essentially disposable, but sometimes kept and reused. Their form can be dictated by the raw material available to the maker but they were often replicated with remarkable consistency. The size of some examples appears to show they were not always just functional tools.

We know from experiments that they were excellent tools for butchering animals but they could also be used for shaping wood and perhaps other tasks. They may also have had a social function and been markers of cultural traditions but these aspects currently remain beyond our understanding.  

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