page_title: Palaeolithic
section_title: Clactonian
hierarchical_section_title: Palaeolithic / Cultures / Clactonian
caption_attribution_description: Español: Gran lasca clactoniense de cuarcita English: Large clactonian flake in quartzite Français&#160;: Gros éclat clactonienne de quartzite
context_page_description: The Palaeolithic, refers to the prehistoric period when stone tools were made by humans. They are found in the Great Rift Valley of Africa from about 3.3 million years ago. They were probably made by Australopithecines. They are found in Europe somewhat later, from about 1 mya. The Palaeolithic is by far the longest period of humanity's time, about 99% of human history. The geological period which corresponds to the Palaeolithic is the Pleistocene.
  Stone tools were not only made by our own species, Homo sapiens. They were made by all previous members of the genus, starting with relatively crude tools made by Homo habilis and Homo erectus. In Europe, the large-brained Neanderthal Man made tools of high quality, and was in turn outshone by the many tools made by our own species. These tools are the first cultural products which have survived.
  The Palaeolithic dates from about 2.6 million years ago and ended around 15,000BC with the Mesolithic in Western Europe, and with the Epipaleolithic in warmer climates such as Africa. The Palaeolithic age began when hominids started to use stones as tools for bashing, cutting and scraping.
context_section_description: The Clactonian is an industry of European flint tool manufacture that dates to the early part of the interglacial period 400,000 years ago. Clactonian tools were made by Homo erectus rather than modern humans. Early, crude flint tools from other regions using similar methods are called either Clactonian or core & flake technology.
  The Clactonian is named after finds made at Clacton-on-Sea in the English county of Essex in 1911. The artefacts found there included flint chopping tools, flint flakes and the tip of a worked wooden shaft along with the remains of a giant elephant and hippopotamus. Further examples of the tools have been found at sites in Swanscombe, Kent, and Barnham in Suffolk; similar industries have been identified across Northern Europe.
  The Clactonian industry involved striking thick, irregular flakes from a core of flint, which was then employed as a chopper. The flakes would have been used as crude knives or scrapers. Unlike the Oldowan tools from which Clactonian ones derived, some were notched implying that they were attached to a handle or shaft.
  The Clactonian industry may have co-existed with the Acheulean industry (which used handaxes). However, in 2004 there was an excavation of a butchered Pleistocene elephant near Dartford, Kent. Archaeologists recovered numerous Clactonian flint tools, but no handaxes. Since handaxes would be more useful than choppers to dismember an elephant carcass, this is evidence of the Clactonian being a separate industry. Flint of sufficient quality was available in the area, so probably the people who carved up the elephant did not have the knowledge to make handaxes.
caption: A huge Clactonian core made of quartzite. Quite small flakes would be struck off it.
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