Archaeological culture associated with Homo erectus
Acheulean
Map of the distribution of Middle Pleistocene (Acheulean) cleaver finds
Geographical range
Africa, Europe, and Asia
Period
Lower Paleolithic
Dates
1.95–0.13 Mya
Type site
Saint-Acheul (Amiens)
Preceded by
Oldowan
Followed by
Mousterian, Clactonian, Micoquien, Aterian, Soanian, Sangoan, Acheulo-Yabrudian complex, Fauresmith industry
A cordiform biface as commonly found in the Acheulean (replica)Acheulean hand-axes from Kent. The types shown are (clockwise from top) cordate, ficron, and ovate.[citation needed]Depiction of a Terra Amata hut in Nice, France, as postulated by Henry de Lumley dated to 400 thousand years ago.[1]
Acheulean (/əˈʃuːliən/; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French acheuléen after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with Homo erectus and derived species such as Homo heidelbergensis.
Acheulean tools were produced during the Lower Palaeolithic era across Africa and much of West Asia, South Asia, East Asia and Europe, and are typically found with Homo erectus remains. It is thought that Acheulean technologies first developed about 2 million years ago, derived from the more primitive Oldowan technology associated with Homo habilis.[2]
The Acheulean includes at least the early part of the Middle Paleolithic. Its end is not well defined, depending on whether Sangoan (also known as "Epi-Acheulean") is included, it may be taken to last until as late as 130,000 years ago. In Europe and Western Asia, early Neanderthals adopted Acheulean technology, transitioning to Mousterian by about 160,000 years ago.
^Musée de Préhistoire Terra Amata. "Le site acheuléen de Terra Amata" [The Acheulean site of Terra Amata]. Musée de Préhistoire Terra Amata (in French). Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^Margherita Mussi; et al. (Oct 12, 2023). "Early Homo erectus lived at high altitudes and produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools". Science. 382 (6671): 713–718. Bibcode:2023Sci...382..713M. doi:10.1126/science.add9115. PMID 37824630. S2CID 263971011.
Acheulean (/əˈʃuːliən/; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French acheuléen after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone...
of Acheulean. For example, the Acheulean site at Bose, China, is dated 0.803±3K mya. The authors of this chronologically later East Asian Acheulean remain...
Commons has media related to Acheulean. Eventually, more complex Mode 2 tools began to be developed through the Acheulean Industry, named after the site...
Africa. This technological industry was followed by the more sophisticated Acheulean industry (two sites associated with Homo erectus at Gona in the Afar Region...
A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from...
megabreccia. The structure is also the location of exceptional accumulations of Acheulean archaeological artifacts. It was selected as one of the first 100 geological...
distinct from Acheulean has been called into question in a 1994 article. The Clactonian industry may in fact be the same thing as the Acheulean and only assessed...
investigated the acheulean since the beginning of her anthropological and educational career. Schick started her research of the acheulean during her years...
predatory behavior and coordinated hunting. H. erectus is associated with the Acheulean stone tool industry, and is postulated to have been the earliest human...
with Homo antecessor (Gran Dolina site, TD6 level, ca. 800,000 years BP) Acheulean stone tools (Mode 2) have been found in the Middle Pleistocene caves and...
by the more complex Acheulean industry, which was first conceived by Homo ergaster around 1.8–1.65 million years ago. The Acheulean implements completely...
colours. In May 2021, archaeologists announced that a 350000-year-old Acheulean site named An Nasim in the Hail region could be the oldest human habitation...
ESA Acheulean sites are well documented across West Africa (except from the most tropical regions) but mostly remain undated. A few late Acheulean sites...
chopped items. Tools described as cleavers have been in use since the Acheulean period. "Cleaver" was commonly spelled clever in the late 17th century...
until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the Oldowan ("mode 1") and Acheulean ("mode 2") lithics industries. In African archaeology, the time period...
industries were located within a 30-metre (100 ft) terrace, and were primitive Acheulean, Abbevillian (Chellean) (c. 600,000 years ago), and an Egyptian form of...
might have been around even longer than some of the early Acheulean phases. Around the Acheulean period they would mostly use large cutting tools, hand axes...
was found in area BLB5, located below the river, in association with Acheulean artifacts. The discovery was considered unusual because wood does not...
well-made tip. They are found in Lower Palaeolithic, Middle Palaeolithic and Acheulean contexts, and are some of the oldest tools ever created by humans. The...
been settled starting within a 30-metre (100 ft) terrace, with primitive Acheulean and Abbevillian (Chellean). Cairo El Salvador The Americas 29 Nov 1898...
proposed around 1.4 Ma (early Acheulean industries), associated with Homo antecessor and 0.8 Ma (cleaver-producing Acheulean groups), associated with Homo...
Part of a series on the History of Morocco Prehistory Acheulean Mousterian Aterian Iberomaurusian Capsian Classical to Late Antiquity (8th century BC...
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