‘Giant’ Palaeolithic Hand Axe

Lower Palaeolithic, c. 700,000 - 300,000 BC

One of the largest Palaeolithic hand axes ever discovered in Great Britain.

The exceptional size of this stone tool, measuring over 24 cm, ranks it among the rare “giant” hand axes, thought not to have been intended as tools, but created and prized for their monumental and aesthetic qualities. Perhaps used as a symbol of strength and status among our early ancestors, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus, it also represents the longest enduring technological tradition in human history.

Now on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Gallery 370.