Overland Journal – August 01, 2019

OVERLAND JOURNAL FALL 2019

131

CLASSIC KIT BRYON BASS

A stonehandaxe found in Kenyaby

membersof theOverlandJournal team

and its place in the history of Classic Kit.

THEOUTCROP:PART 1

Let’sgoback750,000yearsago.IneasternAfrica,with-

intheGreatRiftValleyalongthewesternmarginofLake

Turkana,a bandofearlyhumanscalledHomoerectus(Latin

foruprightman)bivouac just below a precipitousvolcanic

outcroprisingfromtheTurkanaBasin.Thereis waterwithin

eyesight,andherdanimals roamnearby.Apexpredatorsin

thevicinityhuntthesequadrupeds—andtheearlyhumans.

Thetemporaryencampmentis uphillanddownwindfrom

a particularlybusywaterhole.Thefieldtoolofchoiceforthis

group,likemostotherearlyhumans,is a stonetoolarchaeolo-

gistscallanAcheuleanhandaxe.Coinedafterthetype-siteof

Saint-AcheulinFrancewheretheywerefirststudied,these

lithic(stone)implementsspanmultiplecontinentsanda vast

timeframe.Fromabout1.7millionyearsagotoapproximate-

ly 200,000yearsago,thiswasthepredominantaccoutrement.

Group members surelylearnedto manufacturethemfrom

fellow hominids, via observation, imitation, and practice.

Chop,cleave,scrape,dig,pierce,andslice—the Acheulean

handaxedidit all.Onecouldsayit was“standardissue”for

earlyman,andascopiousasthemodernSwissArmyknife.

Ourtroophunkerstoassessthewateringhole,andone

hunterducksaway.Histoolwascachedatthelastcampsite,

butnearbyaresurfaceprotrusionsoffine-grainedbasalt.This

smooth,rapidly cooledigneous(volcanic) rockwill suffice.

Ubiquitousinthatarea,thefinegraincompositionof this

stonemakesit highlypredictablewhenknapped.Hestrikes

witha cobblefoundnearby,rapidlychippingflakesfromboth

sides.Hedeftlyshiftsthesourcestonearound,andwitha se-

ries of finessed blows, refines the outer edges. The implement

The Acheulean

Hand Axe

The Acheuleanhandaxe,along-

side a WinklerKnivesII BlueRidge

Hunter, foundnearLakeTurkana

duringan explorationwith Entdecker

GeländewagensthroughKenya,

Uganda, and South Sudan.