The Acheulean handaxe was the most common tool of early humans, but we still don’t know what the heck they used it for.

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
Acheulean handaxe: large, chipped stone objects which represent the oldest, most common, and longestused formallyshaped working tool in human history.
Microscopy: the technical field of using microscopes to view samples & objects that cannot be seen with the unaided eye.
Microlith: small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimeter or so in length and half a centimeter wide.

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David Goldenberg | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Lizah van der Aart | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music

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"Acheulean handaxe" photo by Mary Harrsch
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"Obsidian Microlith" photo by the Smithsonian
https://www.si.edu/object/obsidianmi...

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REFERENCES
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Rodriguez, Alice. (2023). Personal Communication. Department of Anthropology, NYU. https://as.nyu.edu/departments/anthro...

Iovita, Radu. (2023). Personal Communication. Department of Anthropology, NYU. https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/raduiovit...

Chang, M. (2009). The Case Against Sexual Selection as an Explanation of Handaxe Morphology. Paleoanthropology. https://paleoanthro.org/static/journa...

Welsh, J. (2022). Tools May Have Been First Money. Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/18751han...

Key, A J. M., Proffitt, T, Stefani, Elena and Lycett, Stephen J. (2016) Looking at handaxes from another angle: Assessing the ergonomic and functional importance of edge form in Acheulean bifaces. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 44 (Part A). pp. 4355. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/57215/3/Key%20...

Iovita, R., McPherron, S.P., 2011. The handaxe reloaded: A morphometric reassessment of Acheulian and Middle Paleolithic handaxes. Journal of Human Evolution 61, 61–74. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2011...

Iovita, R., TuviArad, I., Moncel, M.H., Despriée, J., Voinchet, P., Bahain, J.J., 2017. High handaxe symmetry at the beginning of the European Acheulian: The data from la Noira (France) in context. PLOS ONE 12, e0177063. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone....

Wayman. J.L. (2010) Foot Cutters: A New Hypothesis for the Function of Acheulian Bifaces and Related Lithics, Lithic Technology, 35:2, 171194, Retrieved from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/1...

Sorensen, A.C., Claud, E. & Soressi, M. Neandertal firemaking technology inferred from microwear analysis. Sci Rep 8, 10065 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s4159801828...

Aranda, V. et al. (2012) Experimental Program for the Detection of Use Wear in Quartzite. International Conference on UseWear Analysis: UseWear 2012.

Iovita, R., Sano, K. (Eds.), 2016. Multidisciplinary approaches to the study of Stone Age weaponry, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht.

M. Dominguez Rodrigo, J. Serrallonga, J. JuanTresserras, L. Alcala, L. Luque. (2001). Woodworking activities by early humans: a plant residue analysis on Acheulian stone tools from Peninj (Tanzania), Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 40, Issue 4. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2000.0466