Acheulean handaxe (Mode 2)
Bifaz achelense (hacha de mano, Modo 2)
- Date
- c. 1,76 Ma · confidence high
- Place
- Kokiselei 4, western Lake Turkana, Kenya
- Credited to
- Homo erectus / Homo ergaster
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A symmetrical tool knapped on both faces, with a preconceived mental shape, used for 1.5 million years across Africa and Eurasia. It is the first artefact with a large-scale standardised design.
Konso (Ethiopia, 1.75 Ma) and Olduvai (1.7 Ma) give almost identical dates; the origin lies in East Africa.
What it led to
- The ability to impose a mental form on matter: hierarchical planning
- A multipurpose tool that eased Homo erectus's colonisation of Eurasia
- Aesthetics and symmetry as a social signal (the sexual selection hypothesis)
- Use of soft hammers (bone, antler) for fine retouching
Built on
- Oldowan industry (Mode 1 choppers and flakes)c. 2.6 Ma
- Oldowan industry (Mode 1 choppers and flakes)
Made possible
- Systematic stone blade productionc. 500 ka
- Hafting of stone pointsc. 500 ka
- Kalambo Falls interlocking log structurec. 476 ka
- Wooden spear (Schöningen)c. 300 ka
- Levallois prepared-core techniquec. 300 ka
- Levallois prepared-core technique
- Hafting of stone points