page_title: Hand axe
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Hand axe / Types
caption_attribution_description: Español: Bifaz con dorso achelense, procede de un yaciminento superficial de la provincia de Salamanca (España), en el valle del Huebra, afluente del Duero. English: Acheulean hand axe with back that proceeds from a superficial site in the Salamanca province (Spain), in the valley Huebra river, tributary of Douro river. Français&#160;: Biface acheuléen avec dos, originaire d'un gisement de surface de la province de Salamanque (Espagne), dans la vallée de la rivière Huebra, affluent du Duero.
context_page_description: A hand axe is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is usually made from flint or chert. It is characteristic of the lower Acheulean and middle Palaeolithic periods. Its technical name comes from the fact that the archetypical model is generally bifacial Lithic flake and almond-shaped. Hand axes tend to be symmetrical along their longitudinal axis and formed by pressure or percussion. The most common hand axes have a pointed end and rounded base, which gives them their characteristic shape, and both faces have been knapped to remove the natural cortex, at least partially. Hand axes are a type of the somewhat wider biface group of two-faced tools or weapons.
  Hand axes were the first prehistoric tools to be recognized as such: the first published representation of a hand axe was drawn by John Frere and appeared in a British publication in 1800. Until that time, their origins were thought to be natural or supernatural. They were called thunderstones, because popular tradition held that they had fallen from the sky during storms or were formed inside the earth by a lightning strike and then appeared at the surface.
context_section_description: It is possible to distinguish multiple types of hand axe:
  Uniface—flaked on one face with cortex completely covering the other side. This characteristic does not disqualify such tools as hand axes and gives no indication of their age.
  Partial biface—The cortex is present on the tool's base and central part. The overall area that is not knapped may extend to up to 2/3 of its length.
  Bifaces with basal cortex coverage—Only the artefact's base is covered with cortex, which does not cover more than a third of total length. In some cases the cortex is present on both the base and one side, thereby affecting one edge: such tools are called "natural backed". De Mortillet emphasised the importance of the presence or absence of the cortex around the edge in the 19th century: "Even on some of the best worked pieces it is common to see, sometimes on the base but more often on the side, a small area that has not been worked, that is uncut. It could be thought that this is a mistake or an error. But often the most probable reason for this is that it was intentional. There are a large number of hand axes with an uncut base, unworked or partially cleaned ... an area has intentionally been left on these pieces as a grip, it is called the heel. This heel acts as a handle as it is easy to grip". (This hypothesis remains unproven and is not commonly used.)
  Hand axes with residual cortex on an edge—The whole of their edges are knapped except for a small area where the cortex remains (leaving a small area without a sharp edge). This area can be at the base, side or oblique. In all cases it is small, leaving cutting edges on both sides.
  Hand axes with a cutting edge around the whole circumference—The circumference is knapped to a cutting edge, although some residual areas of cortex may persist on either face, without affecting the cutting edge's effectiveness.
caption: Biface with a lateral back.
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