Definition
The Acheulean is a stone tool industry defined by the bifacial handaxe — a symmetric, leaf- or teardrop-shaped tool flaked on both faces along its entire perimeter. Named for the type site at Saint-Acheul in northern France, the industry first appears in East Africa around 1.7 million years ago and persists in recognisable form until roughly 200,000 years ago.
Compared with the preceding Oldowan, Acheulean handaxes show clear preconception — the toolmaker had a target shape in mind and worked the raw material toward it. This shifts the cognitive load from opportunistic flaking to planned reduction, and produces a tool with a stable, repeatable design.
Why it matters
Where it shows up
The oldest Acheulean tools are from Kokiselei 4 in West Turkana, Kenya, dated to 1.7 mya. The industry then spreads across Africa and into Eurasia, reaching the Levant by ~1.5 mya, Europe by ~600 kya, and persisting until being replaced by the Middle Stone Age and Mousterian industries.
The Boxgrove site in southern England is unusual: thousands of handaxes plus the bones of butchered large mammals and a single hominin tibia (probably Homo heidelbergensis), giving a fully contextualised picture of Acheulean toolmaking and use around 500,000 years ago.