What is a hand axe?
Q: What is a hand axe?
A: A hand axe is a stone tool of the Lower (early) and Middle Paleolithic Stone Age. It was bifacial, similar on both sides, and held in the hand without a handle like modern axes.
Q: Who made hand axes?
A: Hand axes were made by earlier species of man such as Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal Man).
Q: How long have humans been using hand axes?
A: Hand axes have been used for at least 1.5 million years.
Q: What preceded the use of hand axes?
A: The use of hand axes was preceded by an even older Oldowan culture of primitive stone tools which dates back to 2.6 to 1.7 million years ago in Africa. It is now known that the first stone tools were probably made by Australopithecines from about 3.3 million years ago in Africa's Great Rift Valley.
Q: Are there any examples of hand axe use outside Africa?
A: Yes, new archaeological evidence from Baise, Guangxi, China shows that there were occasional hand axes found in eastern Asia; however these artifacts were overwhelmingly choppers and flakes rather than actual hand axes.
Q: What divides the Old World into two parts regarding tool usage?
A: The Movius Line divides the Old World into two parts with regards to tool usage; to the west are areas where people used primarily hand axes while to the east are areas where people used choppers or flak-and-chip tools instead.
Q: Why do researchers believe there were at least two different cultural traditions regarding tool usage?
A: Researchers believe there must have been at least two different cultural traditions because some cultures preferred using one type of tool over another depending on their location within the Old World; those located west tended to prefer using mainly handaxes while those located east preferred choppers or flak-and-chip tools instead .
