Surprising find. Who made the giant stone tools from 300,000 years ago?
As many as 800 Paleolithic stone tools have been found by scientists working on an excavation in the Meedway Valley in the British county of Kent. Archaeologists came across the giant stone tools while examining sediments collected on a slope, in a karst funnel and in the bed of an ancient river. Some are nearly 30 centimeters long and are among the largest ever encountered in Britain. They estimate that the artifacts are more than 300,000 years old.
Two huge artifacts
Prominent among the artifacts unearthed are two hand axes. The axes are distinctive stone tools shaped like an almond or heart. It was obtuse on both sides, and their edges were sharpened to make them suitable for cutting. They could be used to bind animals and cut meat. Because of their gigantic size, scientists have placed them in the “huge” category.
“We consider tools to be huge when they exceed 22 cm in length,” — says Letty Ingrey of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. — “Here we found as many as two artifacts in this category. The largest one is as long as 29.5 cm,” the scientist adds.
That’s much larger than the average size of hand axe. Four years ago, axes from the Ashkel culture (one of the oldest cultures of the Lower Paleolithic) were found in Spain. They came from 200–300 thousand years ago. On average they were 18 cm long, the largest was 27 cm. This is almost twice as much as the average for this type of tools, which is 8–15 cm.
Why did the prehistoric inhabitants of Kent have such large tools?
“These hand axes are so large that it’s hard to imagine that they could be comfortably held in the hand and used,” notes Letty Ingrey.
Perhaps they had functions not so much practical as symbolic. For example, they may have been used to demonstrate strength. For now, we don’t know why they were made or who made them. However, the archaeological site where they were found offers a chance to find answers to these questions, the archaeologist notes.
The artifacts date back to the Middle Paleolithic. During this period, Neanderthals had already appeared in Europe and the Islands. In addition to them, other hominin species lived in the area. Meedway Valley was a wilderness consisting of wooded hills intersected by river valleys. Deer and wild horses inhabited the area, but also already extinct mammals such as forest elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). Perhaps the big hand axes helped hunt such giants?
Additional finds
Stone tools are only part of the discoveries from Meedway Valley. At the same archaeological site, the researchers also came across a Roman cemetery from the first centuries AD. They suppose that residents of a nearby villa may have been buried there. It was probably located about 850 meters south of the excavation site.
So far, the remains of 25 people have been found in the cemeteries. 13 have been cremated. Personal belongings, such as bracelets, were found with 9 people. Four, meanwhile, were buried in wooden coffins. Clay vessels and animal bones were also found nearby. This may indicate that as early as two thousand years ago, it was part of the funeral rituals to eat during or after the burial.
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