Palaeo-what?!?! ...early stone tools

In this post we’re going to explore the Palaeolithic time period.  Palaeolithic means Old Stone Age – and people call this time period Palaeolithic because it was a long time ago and people used stone to make things (archaeologists are the type of people who like to call a spade a spade, but in Ancient Greek or Latin, so it sounds fancy).

When we say the Palaeolithic was a long time ago, it really was.  It runs from about 3.3 million years ago to 10 thousand years ago - if you’re into numbers that’s 3,300,000 years ago – 10,000 years ago.  

Archaeologists have then split this into narrower time frames:

Lower Palaeolithic                           3.3 million years ago – 300 thousand years ago

Middle Palaeolithic                          300 thousand years ago – 45 thousand years ago

Upper Palaeolithic                           50 thousand years ago – 10 thousand years ago

In this post, we’re going to take a look at some stone tools which were made during the Palaeolithic however, it’s important to remember that the beings that created many of these stone tools were not human.  They were made by other, closely related, species that are also part of the hominid family (the hominid taxonomic family also includes great apes such as gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees).

The other thing to be aware of is that archaeologists really enjoy grouping things together and naming them.  Sometimes these names are a bit weird (and probably confusing), go with it though because the objects and what they represent are really cool (…says the archaeo-geek).

Hall and East Riding Museum: quartzite Achulean hand axe

First up, we have a beautiful quartzite Achulean hand axe which was found in Somaliland, Somalia, East Africa by H.W. Seton-Karr.  This hand axe has been worked on both sides (archaeologists say ‘bifacially worked).

Fun facts about the Acheulean:-

It’s named after St Acheul in northern France, where this type of axe was first discovered.

It’s a feature of 1.76 million years ago – 0.1 million years ago.

A typical Achulean axe has a heavy butt which fits comfortably in your hand and a narrow point which can be rounded.

Homo ergaster (some researchers say Homo erectus) were the first species to use this tool culture.

It’s not all about axes, there were also flake tools.

Hull and East Riding Museum: purple quartzite hand axe

Also collected by H.W. Seton-Karr from Somaliland, East Africa is this lovely purple quartzite hand axe.  Objects like this suggest that the hominids that were making these stone tools had a sense of beauty and art.  This axe has been made from a beautiful coloured stone, which sparkles when it’s moved in the light.  Surely, whoever made this chose the stone for these qualities and the decision was not based solely on its availability and material properties.

Hull and East Riding Museum: Mousterian hand axe

Hand axes do come in different shapes and sizes.  This one was also collected by H.W. Seton-Karr from Somaliland - it dates to the Mousterian era.  It’s bifacially worked, with a rounded butt and acute point.

Fun facts about the Mousterian:-

Named after a site called ‘Le Moustier’ in south western France.

Spans 160 thousand years ago – 30 thousand years ago.

Associated with Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) in Europe.

So that’s a little insight into the Palaeolithic.  It was a long time ago, things that were not human but like humans made tools out of stone and someone called H.W. Seton-Karr gave many of these objects to Hull and East Riding Museum.

To find out more about Seton-Karr, check back soon as we will reveal all!