´óÏó´«Ã½

Well it's been a chaotically busy three days here and as a result I'm already playing catch-up with the series. I listened to yesterday's programme about the Olduvai handaxe on the train this morning. If asked, I might claim I'm listening to the latest but actually I'm finding myself enthralled by a different kind of cutting edge.

Particularly thrilling was the sound of Phil Harding demonstrating how to make a handaxe. The slightly hollow click and then the solid bounce of the debris hitting the floor suddenly reminded me of a visit to the a few years ago and seeing a video of two , a man and a woman, sculpting a variety of stone tools.

I'd never really thought much about these dull looking stones or how they were made before. I think that my attitude to the Paleolithic display cases had remained the same since I was about ten years old: 'Sharp stones. Okay. Now where are the Romans?'

But on that visit I found myself mesmerised and spent about fifteen minutes staring at it. That's a quarter of an hour spent watching someone, essentially, hitting a rock with another rock. It made me realise the amount of consideration and planning that requires. (And how fantastic is it that you can learn flint knapping on YouTube? Is there a teach yourself to cave-paint video out there?)

I think James Dyson makes a good point though, I was also wondering exactly how you use the Olduvai handaxe without slicing through two sets of flesh - the carcass and your own hand. Perhaps, after the handaxe, our next invention was the sticking plaster?

We've had some more stone tools added to the site by you guys too, including a flint arrowhead and a stone tool from Kenya, and a possible grinding tool from near Conwy Bay. Great stuff, keep them coming.

• If, like me, you're playing catch up, remember that you can listen again to the programmes on the site while looking at the objects or you can download the podcast for your own journey to work.

• The picture shows from Kimble County, Texas. It's by and it's used .