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Handaxe 300,000 BCE [Object of the Day #13]


July 3, 2012

Neandertal flintknappers throughout Europe, the Near East, and Africa would prepare a core in such a way that they could produce a single flake (removed from this piece) of a specified size and shape. Bifaces are the characteristic tool of the Lower Paleolithic. Early hominids of Eurasia and Africa would shape these pieces by removing many small flakes from the edges. They were probably used as all-purpose tools for butchering game. Penn Museum Object 12942A.View this object and more like it on <a href="http://www.penn.museum/collections/object/368730”" rel="nofollow">Penn Museum’s Online Collections Database</a>
Handaxe from Saint-Acheul, France ca. 300,000 BCE

Neandertal flintknappers throughout Europe, the Near East, and Africa would prepare a core in such a way that they could produce a single flake (removed from this piece) of a specified size and shape. Bifaces are the characteristic tool of the Lower Paleolithic. Early hominids of Eurasia and Africa would shape these pieces by removing many small flakes from the edges. They were probably used as all-purpose tools for butchering game.

Penn Museum Object 12942A.

View this object and more like it on Penn Museum’s Online Collections Database