Handaxe
Also called: Acheulian handaxe, Hand axe · Topic: Prehistory: Human Origins and Stone Age Cultures · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 4 "Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation"
Meaning
A handaxe is a large stone tool, usually pear-shaped, with flakes chipped off both faces to give it sharp edges and a point. It is the typical tool of the Lower Palaeolithic (early Old Stone Age), in what is called the Acheulian tradition. Handaxes are linked with Homo erectus. People used them with cleavers to chop meat, dig up tubers (roots such as yams), scrape skins and break bones for marrow, the soft food inside bones.
Example
At Attirampakkam in Tamil Nadu (c. 1.5–1.7 million years ago), handaxes and cleavers made of quartzite were found together with animal fossils.
Don't confuse with
- Cleaver: a cleaver has a straight, broad cutting edge across one end. A handaxe narrows to a point.
- Chopper: a chopper is a rougher tool, usually flaked on one side only, and is linked with Homo habilis.
Related concepts
- Palaeolithic age
- Acheulian tradition
- Attirampakkam
- Isampur
- Hunsgi valley
- Pallavaram
- Didwana
- Soanian culture
- Hathnora
- Belan valley