Palaeolithic Hand Axe

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Bifacially crafted handaxe with a distinctive pear-shaped form and evidence of a failed tranchet removal at one end. This Lower Palaeolithic tool was unearthed in Boscombe, Hampshire. Handaxes first appear in the fossil record approximately 1.6 million years ago, marking the emergence of our early ancestor, Homo erectus. They then persist as the primary all-purpose stone instrument for roughly 1.5 million years. The handaxe is part of the Royal Pavilion & Museums' archaeological repository and has been digitized by the University of Brighton's Cultural Informatics team. Accession number: HA200223.