Regional Comparison of the Shapes of Later Acheulean Handaxes

This article documents an unexpected regional difference in the shapes of later Acheulean hand-axes. Almost 1,200 handaxes from 17 sites located in Europe, East Africa, India, and the Near East were measured using a polar coordinate technique and compared using discriminant analysis and analysis of variance. One group of handaxes, those from Israel, clearly stood apart. The reasons for this distinction are unclear but may relate to raw material, time, or, perhaps, cultural tradition.