This Paleolithic axe hand was mostly likely discovered in France, before it entered the Eynard collection and then most recently, that of the late British musician Victor Brox (1940 - 2023).

The Acheulean name derives from the archeological site established at Saint-Acheul, a suburb of Amiens, the capital of the Somme department in Picardy, where similar objects and artifacts were found in 1859.

These types of hand axes were produced by a bifacial reduction of a block or large flake blank around a single, long axis, creating a cutting edge on both sides and can be found in various oval and ‘pear’ shapes. They were used for a variety of tasks, including digging, chopping, and butchering. Paleolithic hand axes are the earliest and longest-used kind of tool made by diverse species of hominins, with documented usage over a period of 1.7 million years. The extinct hominin species that made this examples was most likely homo erectus, or homo heidelbergensis, who derived from them. The form of this object represents an early human interest in ergonomic design, as demonstrated by the existence of certain practical features, such as finger holes, that were intended to enhance the grip of a human hand when using this tool. 

Handaxes have long been a source of fascination in our social and cultural history. Prior to the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, people thought that they were of natural origin and referred to them as "thunderstones shot from the clouds," according to texts, with the earliest records dating back to the mid-1500s. However, researchers from Dartmouth and the University of Cambridge have identified that "The Melun Diptych" (circa 1455), painted by Jean Fouquet, depicts what is likely the earliest artistic representation of an Acheulean handaxe, demonstrating that these objects had an even earlier place in the modern world.

"The Melun Diptych" was commissioned by Étienne Chevalier, who was from Melun, France, and served as treasurer for King Charles VII of France. The diptych is comprised of two oil paintings on wood panels: "Étienne Chevalier with Saint Stephen" on the left, and "Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels" on the right.

Researchers found that an Acheulean handaxe appears to have been represented in the left panel. In the painting, Chevalier is depicted wearing a crimson robe with his hands folded together as if he were praying while Saint Stephen, his patron saint, is standing next to him holding the New Testament as a stone object resembling a handaxe rests on top of the book. The stone object symbolizes the death by stoning of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

Related literature:

Alastair Key et al, Acheulean Handaxes in Medieval France: An Earlier 'Modern' Social History for Palaeolithic Bifaces, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Cambridge, 2023