Palaeolithic Stone Tools
The Palaeolithic is often divided into lower, middle and upper. British Isles: Humans probably first arrived in Britain around 800,000 BC. These early inhabitants had to cope with extreme environmental changes and they left Britain at least seven times when conditions became too bad.
The period lasted between 800,000 and 12,000 years ago which saw the end of the last Ice Age.
Very few sites of habitation are known.
The earliest is at Happisburgh (Pronounced Hazeboro) on the Norfolk coast and another is near the village of Boxgrove, just outside Chichester in West Sussex, which is 550,000 years old.
Many of the Palaeolithic tools found in England have been found in river terrace gravels where they were deposited by the waters from rivers and melting glaciers.
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper 
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper 
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper 
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper 
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper 
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper
Palaeolithic / Mousterian Hand Chopper
Provenance – Found near the River Ter Valley, near Chelmsford, Essex.
Description – This interesting Palaeolithic stone age tool is a very early handheld chopper. The item has a long handle including a placement for your hand to make gripping the tool more comfortable. The Stone Age Chopper is biface with clear signs of striking ripples and bulbs of percussion. The tool includes the cortex still present on the handle. The item is Mousterian (Neanderthal) in origin.
It is made from a brown chert.
The Mousterian (or Mode III) is a techno-complex (archaeological industry) of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to a lesser extent the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia.
Size – 14 cm x 6.5 cm
Weight – 304g
Age – 160,000 – 40,000 BP
Found in February 2021