500,000 year old stone tool vs. weapon mystery

josh stout · 13th March 2012, 02:51 PM

The most important artifact in human history is a complete mystery. We can't even agree what to call it. The handaxe (biface) was used from 1.7 mya to 100 kya by Homo erectus from Africa, to Europe, to the Middle East, but no one knows what they were for. The term "handaxe" is not considered appropriate and many archeologists simply use the term "lithics" ("rockies"). Some think they are accidental products of creating scraping chips, others think they were for attracting mates. Most think they are tools, but the stones are sharp all the way around, making them hard to grip.

Personally I think they are throwing weapons. There are some who agree with this, but it is a minority view. I have posted these because as a group I think we have more experience identifying weapons and tools than the archeologists. I would appreciate any speculative ideas on the subject.

I have included two objects from Southern Oman from roughly 250,000-800,000 years ago. Both might be called handaxes, but one, I see as a tool, and one as a weapon. The tool, like many ethnographic tools, has a single bevel and a narrow edge, while the weapon, like most, has a roughly bullet shaped edge to place significant mass behind the cut. The tool also shows chipped areas of differing color that are impossible to explain. To me, they look like repeated heat treatment and chipping, but this was not done till modern humans, at least 150,000 years later.
Feel free to speculate wildly. There is no one who knows any better.
Thanks,
Josh

13th March 2012, 02:51 PM	#1
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	500,000 year old stone tool vs. weapon mystery The most important artifact in human history is a complete mystery. We can't even agree what to call it. The handaxe (biface) was used from 1.7 mya to 100 kya by Homo erectus from Africa, to Europe, to the Middle East, but no one knows what they were for. The term "handaxe" is not considered appropriate and many archeologists simply use the term "lithics" ("rockies"). Some think they are accidental products of creating scraping chips, others think they were for attracting mates. Most think they are tools, but the stones are sharp all the way around, making them hard to grip. Personally I think they are throwing weapons. There are some who agree with this, but it is a minority view. I have posted these because as a group I think we have more experience identifying weapons and tools than the archeologists. I would appreciate any speculative ideas on the subject. I have included two objects from Southern Oman from roughly 250,000-800,000 years ago. Both might be called handaxes, but one, I see as a tool, and one as a weapon. The tool, like many ethnographic tools, has a single bevel and a narrow edge, while the weapon, like most, has a roughly bullet shaped edge to place significant mass behind the cut. The tool also shows chipped areas of differing color that are impossible to explain. To me, they look like repeated heat treatment and chipping, but this was not done till modern humans, at least 150,000 years later. Feel free to speculate wildly. There is no one who knows any better. Thanks, Josh Attached Images