Stone Age Handaxes, Art & Ritual (Second Edition)

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"Stone Age Handaxes, Art & Ritual (Second Edition)" has over a hundred full-colour photographs. Beginning by introducing handaxes crafted by the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles, one million years ago, this work details that they carved, pecked and knapped these artefacts as art. In this respect, handaxes of all types, shapes and forms were not so much meant for use as weapons, but more as tools and ceremonial objects, having dual ritualistic and practical functions, as well often being beautiful objects. Passed down as ancestral heirlooms, they became enthused with 'mana' and were often placed as offerings in streams, or at tomb and grave sites, or by sacred groves. Until now, the designs seen on these artefacts have not generally been recognised as art. The main theme of this work therefore is to introduce, in detail, these handaxes as art forms to the world of archaeology and the public alike. Intangible, ritualistic meanings they once held, yet tangible stone art they remain, preserved as monuments to the skill and cognitive abilities of our most distant ancestors.