Axe Age: Acheulian Tool-making from Quarry to Discard (Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology) - Hardcover

Goren-Inbar, Naama; Gonen, Sharon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1845531388 ISBN 13: 9781845531386

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

Synopsis

"Axe Age" is dedicated to the Acheulian, a unique cultural phenomenon with the longest duration and the widest distribution in the history of humanity. The Acheulian lasted over 1 million years and is well known over three continents (Africa, Europe and Asia). This stone tool tradition is characterized by its hallmark bifacial tools, which include handaxes and cleavers. Though this prehistoric culture has been investigated extensively for over a century, countless questions have remained unanswered. Many of them are addressed in this volume. The volume, of interest to both scholars and students, presents original contributions that expand the scope of our understanding of this intriguing cultural entity. The contributions cover a vast geographic terrain and a large array of issues expressing hominin cognitive abilities and behavioral modes, such as landscape exploitation, production of bifacial tools and their classification, regional diversity, transmission of knowledge, transportation and discard patterns. Of the many authors, some are eminent scholars of worldwide reputation in Acheulian research, while others are young scholars reporting on their original research data. All of them contribute to gaining an improved understanding of the Acheulians and their culture.

About this title

About the Author

Naama Goren-Inbar is a Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has excavated extensively in Israel, focusing mainly on Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites. Her research interests include diverse aspects of stone tool technology and the study of hominin abilities and ancient behavioral patterns. Gonen Sharon is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1845531388
• ISBN 13: 9781845531386
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 544