Period: Early Paleolithic (c. 1.000.000-40.000 BC)

Project title: The Hand Axe: Paleolithic Survival Tool

Researcher: Steven M. Watts, Schiele Museum of Natural History, Gastonia, N. Carolina, USA

E-mail: stevewatts(at)cityofgastonia.com

Year: 2006

Abstract:

The Paleolithic hand axe was used by our ancestors for more than one million years. Some suggest that its longevity should be attributed to a lack of imagination and sophistication on the part of the makers. The alternative view is presented here. Perhaps its long-term use can be attributed to the fact of its sophistication - as the ultimate survival tool. The experiment had two phases – a replication phase where hand axes were reproduced and a use phase where the use of the hand axe were tested at a range of tasks. Experiments with the hafting of hand axes were also performed.

During the replication phase of this project a number of large Paleolithic bifaces were reproduced. These included four hand axe types and one cleaver type. Four different hand axe classifications were postulated by the researcher based on speculative and experimental use. Several tests were performed during the experimental use phase, including wood chopping, digging and the skinning of a boar on site. The focus however was on wood chopping.

During the experiment the cleaver form was chosen as the best candidate for hafting. Once hafted - using a technologically simple system of wood and rawhide wrapping--well within the technological abilities of these Paleolithic craftsmen - the cleaver/axe was put to use chopping a variety of wood species and sizes. The efficiency and power of the tool was increased dramatically. There is no evidence that these tools were ever hafted, and there is no evidence that they were not. But, the experiment shows the powerful and practical possibilities of such a tool when so modified. It becomes the super tool of the Paleolithic that few had dared to imagine.

Reference number: HAF 07/06