A History Of The World In A 100 Objects: No. 3

A History Of The World In A 100 Objects
Number 3
Olduvai Handaxe
Tool found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
1.2-1.4 million years old

This item is an advance on item number 2, it's a flint hand axe & is peardrop shaped & again sized to fit in a man's hand.
Flint is hard volcanic rock & the axe has been made by chipping away in chunks to create the pear shape & the sharp edges. It's a far more crafted object than the earlier implement, almost machined in comparison.
It shows an advance in early Human Technology & it also indicates an advance in Human brain power. It shows an ability for our ancestral relatives to think about, appreciate & adapt better to the environment they lived in.
It shows a basic craftsmanship level that has moved on from the previous item & a desire to use materials as functional labour saving devices and to make them more suitable and better equipped for the tasks they were required to perform.
As Flint is a hard rock to chip away at, but also very hardy it shows an appreciation and an understanding of the materials that they had to hand & the way they could be used to benefit their lives.
This was still an age before agriculture & Humans were still hunter gatherers so this tool would have been a vital step forward in the advance from the crudely hacked rock of item 2 and it shows a naturally advancing thought process that not only shows Humans becoming more intelligent but also adapting materials & creating things that made their lives easier & to be able to do more & go further a field.