I found this Acheulian culture hand axe in Aylsford, Kent. It is Palaeolithic in age and may be 250,000 years old. What is most striking is how decorative and artistic it is, given that its function is probably to skin and butcher game.
Palaeolithic hand axe
Contributed by Richard Milton
Most of the content on A History of the World is created by the contributors, who are the museums and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ or the British Museum. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site’s House Rules please Flag This Object.
About this object
Click a button to explore other objects in the timeline
- Location
-
Kent
- Culture
- Period
- Theme
- Size
-
- H:
- 12.2cm
- W:
- 7.6cm
- Colour
- Material
View more objects from people in Hampshire.
Find out more
Podcast
Highlights from the collection
´óÏó´«Ã½ iD
´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation
´óÏó´«Ã½ links
´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Comments
What a fantastic find, my heart would have been pounding with excitement. It would be such a privilege to hold this hand axe and connect with our ancestors. To think they made such practical yet beautiful tools all those years ago, amazing........
I am surprised to see a human-made object in the UK presented as being 250,000 years old. I thought the earliest homo sapiens sapiens to leave Africa did so 60,000 years ago. Or are you saying this item was made by homo erectus?
To frobisherx - the earliest human artefacts in Britain have been dated by Dr Nick Ashton of The British Museum as being between 800,000 and 1 million years old (Nature, 8 July 2010) so tools that are 250,000 years are not unusual. The oval or pear-shaped pattern of hand axes has not changed in a million years.