Acheulean

The Acheulean is a prehistoric stone-tool industry distinguished by bifacially worked handaxes and related tools. It was made by several human species across Africa and Eurasia over a long span of the Paleolithic.

Handaxe: A large stone tool shaped on both faces, often with a pointed or oval outline. The handaxe is the Acheulean’s signature tool form.
Hard-hammer percussion: Stoneworking by striking a core with a hard hammerstone to detach flakes. Hard-hammer blows often establish an Acheulean handaxe’s initial form.
Oldowan: An early stone-tool industry characterized mainly by simple cores and flakes. The Oldowan precedes the Acheulean and provides a contrast in tool forms.
Homo erectus: An extinct human species that lived in Africa and Eurasia for more than a million years. Homo erectus is associated with many early Acheulean assemblages.
Saint-Acheul: A suburb of Amiens, France, where handaxes gave the Acheulean its name. The site became a landmark for recognizing and naming the industry.
Biface: A stone artifact worked on both faces by removing flakes from opposing surfaces. Bifacial flaking describes the shaping method behind many Acheulean tools.
Soft-hammer percussion: Stoneworking by striking with a softer hammer, such as bone, antler, or wood. Softer blows can thin and regularize edges after rough shaping.
Lomekwi 3: An archaeological site in Kenya with stone tools dated to about 3.3 million years ago. Its tools predate the Acheulean and complicate accounts of the earliest stone technology.
Homo heidelbergensis: An extinct archaic human species known from Middle Pleistocene fossils in Africa and Eurasia. Some later Acheulean assemblages are associated with populations classified as Homo heidelbergensis.
Boxgrove: A Lower Paleolithic archaeological site in southern England with well-preserved hominin remains and stone tools. Its Acheulean assemblages preserve carefully made handaxes and evidence of tool use.

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