BBC - A History of the World - Object : A Middle Palaeolithic Flint Handaxe

Middle Palaeolithic Handaxe from Robin Hood Cave. 60,000 - 40,000 years old. © Creswell Heritage Trust

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Creswell Crags is the most northerley point in the World that we have Neanderthal evidence, such as this handaxe.This flint handaxe is one of a few items left by the first humans to visit the county. It was made sometime between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago (during the Middle Palaeolithic) and was part of the tool kit used by Neanderthals.

Handaxes are thought to have been used primarily for butchering animals. Neanderthals were staying at Creswell Crags for the short summer seasons to hunt aurochs and woolly rhinoceros. This artefact would have been larger when it was first made with sharp edges suitable for cutting and slicing.

The handaxe is now quite small with steep edges, due to repeated trimming. It may have ended up being more used as a scraper for cleaning animal hides for clothes.

This flint is not local to Creswell Crags. It was made much further south and carried by its owner for many miles. It was discarded or maybe even lost in Robin Hood Cave, where it was found by John Campbell in 1969.

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