68. Paleolithic Hand Axe (Swanscombe)

'Rickson’s Pit'

A lower Paleolithic dark grey/black flint pointed ovate hand axe. A fine example of the type. From Rickson’s Pit, Swanscombe, Kent (grid ref: TQ608745). These are now much sought after antiquities for sale, particularly with this provenance.

The Swanscombe area is famous for the finds of Paleolithic handaxes - Acheulean and Clactonian period artifacts - some as much as 400,000 years old.

Condition: Small chip on tip restored.

Dimensions: Length 88mm

Provenance: Ex. Robert Steven Murray Collection (1950 - 2005) Caithness, Scotland.

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Paleolithic Swanscombe

The Swanscombe area is famous for the finds of Paleolithic handaxes - Acheulean and Clactonian period artifacts - some as much as 400,000 years old. In 1935/1936 work at Barnfield Pit uncovered two fossilised skull fragments. These fragments came to be known as the remains of Swanscombe Man. The bones were later found to have belonged to a young woman. The Swanscombe skull has been identified as early Neanderthal (pre-Neanderthal, Homo heidelbergensis), dating to the Hoxnian Interglacial around 400,000 years ago. Swanscombe is one of only two sites in Britain which have yielded Lower Paleolithic human fossils.

Most of the bone and many stone finds are now in the Natural History Museum in London.