Handaxes Rock the Stone Age - Arizona State Museum

Introduction to Stone Age Technology

• Technology as a means of controlling our environment.
• Roots trace back to the Paleolithic Period, over a million years ago.
• Earliest stone tools created by human ancestors.

The Paleolithic Era

• Characterization:
  • Marked by the development of stone tools.
  • Earliest sites found in Africa.
  • Australopithecus sediba may have been the first tool maker.
  • The European Paleolithic Era began 1.4 million years ago, lasting until 12,000 years ago.
  • Divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Paleolithic periods.

Upper Paleolithic Period

• Features:
  • Onset of modern human behavior.
  • Evidence of organized settlements, artistic expression, and diverse artifacts.
• ASM Collections:
  • Objects from the Magdalenian and Solutrean traditions.
  • Solutrean tools known for lithic reduction percussion and pressure flaking.
  • Magdalenian associated with hunting large mammals like reindeer and horses.

Middle Paleolithic Period

• Developments:
  • Hand axes continued; emergence of the Levallois technique.
  • Mousterian tradition with hafted tools.
  • Evidence of hunting, gathering, and ritualized burials.
• ASM Collections:
  • Levallois Side Scrapers and Mousterian Scrapers from France.

Lower Paleolithic Period

• Acheulean Industry:
  • Revolution in stone-age technology.
  • Acheulean hand axe: a multipurpose tool used globally.
  • Acheulean tools often found with butchered animal bones.
• ASM Collections:
  • Acheulean Hand Axes from England and France.

Acknowledgements

• Text by Dr. Suzanne L. Eckert, ASM head of collections.
• Photography by Jannelle Weakly, ASM photo collections manager.

ASM Contact and Additional Resources

• Location: Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
• Online Exhibits: Available on the Arizona State Museum website.
• Related: School of Anthropology and Arizona’s federally recognized Native Nations.
• Contact and visit for further information.