Flint Hand Axe

800,000-300,000 BP - Lower Palaeolithic

In Prehistory, flint was manipulated through the process of flintknapping to create stone tools. Handaxes are the most iconic artefact representing the Palaeolithic, and can be found almost al over the world. These tools were used for butchering scavenged or hunted animals.

Hand axes were the first prehistoric tools to recognised as such. Until 1800 they were called thunderstones because popular tradition held that they had fallen from the sky during storms or were formed inside the earth by a lightning strike and then appeared at the surface.

Examples of flint handaxes have been found at Creswell Crags in Robin Hood Cave.

These replica tools have been handmade in the same way as they would have been originally and so they vary in size but are approximately 18cm in length.                             The item received may be slightly different in colour/appearance to the image due to natural variations in the flint rock.

These tools are sharp and should not be purchased by anyone under the age of 18. These tools are not toys.