EP Gallery: Middle Acheulian -- Olorgesailie, Olduvai Gorge, Near East, Abbevillian (c. 1.0 MYA to 500,000 BP) / x)fordwich4c5

Fordwich, Kent. "Three crude handaxes from Fordwich, Kent" (Roe 1981:104).

Comment: In contrast to the Near Eastern biface assemblages typified by lanceolate handaxes and picks and the African assemblages typified by cordiform handaxes and cleavers, the typical Abbevillian tradition biface of Europe appears to be typified by an extraordinarily high thickness ratio and the combination in one biface of three shape elements: core-like in plan view; globular or pear-like in side view; and pick-like in cross-section. The pointed bifaces of Kent's Cavern, Fordwich, Sablé Loire, and Abbeville are remarkably similar in their gestalt. All these Abbevillian assemblages appear to date to OIS 15 c. 600,000 BP; the tradition may have continued into OIS 13.

Illustration after R.A. Smith © Roe, D. (1981). The lower and middle Palaeolithic periods in Britain. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul: fig4:5.