View source for Hand axe

[[File:Acheuleanhandaxes.jpg|right|thumb|230px|













These tools were maybe out of flint .Acheulean hand axes from [[Kent]]. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron and ovate. The two lower axes are reduced in scale.]] 
[[File:Handaxe-of-Um-Qatafa.png|right|thumb|230px|Hand axe from Um-Quatfa]]
{{Infobox artefact
| name          = Gray's Inn Lane Hand Axe
| image         = [[File:Gray's Inn Lane Hand Axe.jpg|230px|]]
| image_caption = Pointed flint hand axe from Gray's Inn Lane, London
| material      = 
| size          = {{convert|165|mm|0|abbr=on}} long
| writing       =
| created       = 350,000 years ago
| discovered    = [[Gray's Inn Lane]], [[London]]
| location      = [[British Museum]], [[London]]
| id            =
| registration = <!--{{British-Museum-db|}}Please add id nos-->
}}

A '''hand axe''' is a [[stone tool]] of the Lower (early) and Middle [[Paleolithic]] [[Stone Age]]. It was a bifacial, similar on both sides, and held in the hand, not with a handle like a modern [[axe]]. It was held directly in the hand, perhaps wrapped in a piece of [[leather]].

This kind of [[axe]] is typical of the [[Acheulean]] and the [[Mousterian]] cultures, and is the longest-used [[tool]] of human history. Hand axes were certainly used for at least a million and a half years. They were made by earlier species of man, such as ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and ''[[Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (Neanderthal Man); it was one of their most important tools. The hand axe cultures were preceded by an even older [[Oldowan]] culture of primitive stone tools (2.6 to 1.7 million years ago) in [[Africa]].<ref>Callow P. 1994. The Olduvai bifaces: technology and raw materials. In M.D. Leakey & D.A. Roe (eds) ''Olduvai Gorge'' vol 5. Cambridge. p235-253.
</ref><ref>Kuman K. 1996. The Oldowan Industry from Sterkfontein: raw materials and core forms. In: R. Soper & G. Pwiti (eds) ''Aspects of African Archaeology''. Papers from the 10th Congress of the Pan-African Association for Prehistory and Related Studies. Univ. of Zimbabwe Publications. Harare.</ref> Now it is known that the first stone tools were probably made by  [[Australopithecine]]s. They are found in the [[Great Rift Valley]] of [[Africa]] from about 3.3 million years ago.<ref>Morelle, Rebecca 2015. Oldest stone tools pre-date earliest humans. BBC News Science & Environment. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32804177]</ref><ref>Harmand, Sonia ''et al'' 2015. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. ''Nature'' '''521''', 310–315. [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7552/full/nature14464.html]</ref>

New archaeological evidence from Baise, [[Guangxi]], [[China]] shows that there were occasional hand axes in eastern Asia. However, as the reference shows,<ref name=Baise/> the artifacts were overwhelmingly choppers and flakes. The authors say "The stone tool assemblage shows close associations with the pebble tool industry... in South China".<ref name=Baise>Stone artifacts found from the Gonglou Site in Baise Basin, Guangxi, China [http://english.ivpp.cas.cn/rh/rp/201303/t20130315_99730.html]</ref>

A line known as the [[Movius Line]] divides the Old World into two parts: to the west are the hand axe areas, and to the east are the chopper or flak-and-chip areas. It is supposed that there were at least two different cultural traditions.

== Production ==
[[File:Franks HouseDSCF7165.jpg|right|thumb|250px|High-quality tools recovered from Boxgrove quarry, Made c. 500,000 years ago, they are attributed to either ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' or early ''[[H. neanderthalensis]]''.]]

Older hand axes were produced by direct [[percussion]] with a stone hammer and can be distinguished by their thickness and a sinuous border. Later [[Mousterian]] handaxes were produced with a soft billet of [[antler]] or wood and are much thinner, more symmetrical and have a straight border.

An experienced [[flintknapper]] needs less than 15 minutes to produce a good quality hand axe. A simple hand axe can be made from a beach pebble in less than 3 minutes.

=== Raw materials ===
Hand axes are mainly made of [[flint]], but [[rhyolite]]s,  [[phonolite]]s,  [[quartzite]]s and other rather coarse [[Rock (geology)|rocks]] were used as well. It depends what rocks were available in the vicinity. [[Obsidian]] was rarely used, because it is not widely found. It produces a brilliant blade, but shatters more easily than flint.

=== Shapes ===
Several basic shapes, like cordate, [[oval]], or triangular have been distinguished, but their significance is not agreed upon.

== Function ==
Hand axes were no doubt a multi-purpose tool. Research on their cutting edges has shown that, in many cases, they were used for [[butcher]]ing meat. This would include extracting [[bone marrow]] (which would explain the pointed end) and general hacking through [[bone]], [[muscle]] and [[tendon]]s. Experiments at [[Boxgrove quarry]] would appear to back this up. We know for sure that Neanderthals, at least, were hunters of large mammals such as [[mammoth]]s, and that may be true of other hand axe cultures. The need for such a heavy tool is thus easily understood. Wielding a hand axe requires considerable strength, but Neanderthals were stronger than us in their upper bodies.

Studies in the 1990s at Boxgrove, in which a butcher attempted to cut up a carcass with a hand axe, showed that the hand axe was perfect for getting at the [[bone marrow]], which is high in protein and vitamins and thus was highly prized as a food source.<ref>Bergmann C.A & Roberts M.B. 1988. Flaking technology at the Acheulean site of Boxgrove, West Sussex, England. ''Rev. Arch. Picardie'', special number.</ref><ref>Pitts, Michael and Roberts, Mark 1998. ''Fairweather Eden: life in Britain half a million years ago as revealed by the excavations at Boxgrove''. London: Arrow. {{ISBN|978-0099644910}}.</ref>

== Related pages ==
*[[Stone tool]]
*[[Palaeolithic]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Cutting tools]]
[[Category:Stone Age]]