Ficrons are a form of Palaeolithic handaxe which first appeared in East Africa in the Lower Palaeolithic, and which were carried out of Africa by subsequent Human migrations into Europe and Asia. Like other Palaeolithic handaxes, they are formed by striking flakes off a central core, to form a triangular, bifaced blade, although ficrons tend to be substantially longer and larger than other such axes, raising questions as to how they were used. Although most closely associated with East Africa, and early routes out of Africa, a surprisingly large number of these tools have been found in Great Britain, suggesting that this area may have been more important to Middle Pleistocene Humans during ancient interglacial periods than the archaeological record otherwise suggests.
In a paper published in the journal Internet Archaeology on 6 July 2023, Letty Ingrey of Archaeology South-East at University College London, freelance imaging consultant Sarah Duffy, Martin Bates of the University of Wales Trinity St David, Andrew Shaw of Wessex Archaeology, and Matt Pope, also of Archaeology South-East at University College London, describe a pair of newly discovered and exceptionally large ficron handaxes from a site in the Medway Valley in Kent, southeast England.
The axes were discovered at a site at Frindsbury on the west bank of the Medway, where Archaeology South-East were carrying out an archaeological survey on behalf of construction company Bowmer and Kirkland, who had been engaged to build a new school on the site. They were located within a river terrace sequence thought to have been laid down in an ancient tributary of the River Medway, along with a collection of other Palaeolithic artefacts, which will be described in a later publication. The deposit in which they were found has not been accurately dated, but is assumed to be Middle Pleistocene.
Location of the Maritime Academy Palaeolithic site. Top left shows the site's
location within the wider region. Top right shows the site's position relative to the current
course of the Medway and the Palaeolithic sites of Cuxton and Frindsbury All Saints. Ingrey et al. (2023). The first ficron was discovered in a sand layer at the top of the fluvial sequence, which was being stripped to allow archaeologists access to the lower sequence. It is 230 mm in length. despite having lost its tip.
The second ficron was found within a weakly bedded unit of gravels and sands with well-rounded flint clasts, within the main river terrace sequence. This axe is significantly larger, at 296 mm in length, making it the third largest Palaeolithic tool ever found in the UK.
The largest known British Palaeolithic tool was an Acheulian handaxe found at Furze Platt in Berkshire in 1940, which measured 323 mm in length, and remains one of the largest Palaeolithic tools discovered anywhere in Europe. The second largest is another Ficron Handaxe, found in 2004 at Cuxton, also in the Medway Valley, only 5 km from the Frindsbury site.
These exceptionally large handaxes present a challenge to our understanding of how palaeolithic tools were used. The standard assumption about handaxes is that they were held in one hand and used as a cutting tool. However, the size of these giant handaxes would appear to preclude this, unless Middle Pleistocene Human populations included exceptionally large individuals who have left no other traces. Another possibility is that these objects were of symbolic rather than practical purposes, possibly representing some form of Palaeolithic status symbols. However, if this is the case then these tools pre-date any other form of ritual behaviour by tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years. An alternative hypothesis is that we have simply misunderstood the purpose of these items, and they were not used as hand tools at all. Ingrey et al. offer the suggestion that such axes might have been planted in the ground, or otherwise attached to a fixed surface, with the item to be cut being manipulated by the user rather than the tool, although there is no way of testing this hypothesis at this time.
See also...
