Acheulean

Acheulean — an industry of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, named after the commune of Saint-Acheul in France and widespread throughout Africa, West and South Asia as well as in Southwest and Central Europe. The Acheulean is divided into four phases: older (originally called Abbevillian), middle, younger and late (epiacheuléen). The oldest finds associated with the Acheulean come from eastern and southern Africa and are dated to over 1.7 million years ago. Characteristic features of this industry are chopping cores, flat hand axes of various shapes (almond-shaped, oval, disc-shaped, triangular) and stone tools such as choppers, sidescrappers, arrowheads and serrated tools.

Dating the European finds, which also include stone artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic, is a complex task. The oldest finds come from the Paris Basin (2.5 million years old) while the chipped industry from Beroun in the Czech Republic (1.7 – 1.8 million years) also dates from one of the oldest phases of the Acheulean industry. Artefacts from the Tetoiu site in Romania are about the same age, while finds from the Orce Valley in southern Spain are only slightly younger (1.5 million years). A greater concentration of Acheulean finds are associated with the arrival of Homo erectus in Central Europe around 0.8 – 0.6 million years ago. The richest Acheulean site in the Czech Republic is Bečov II. Generally, the Central European finds are mainly small tools such as side cutters, notches, arrowheads, serrated tools, borers, retouched flakes, choppers, gravers and endscrapers. The presence of tools at individual sites is associated with warm periods, e.g. in Vértesszőlős in Hungary, Bilzingsleben in Germany, Praha-Sedlec and Karlštejn, and in the vicinity of Brno in the Czech Republic, Trzebnica in Poland and many other sites in Italy and France. There are also two important sites in Moravia that are associated with the Acheulean industry: Červený kopec and Stránska skala in Brno. The youngest finds come from industrial sites from the Upper Palaeolithic, probably date from around 0.3 million years ago and were discovered during field surveys on river terraces. However, their relationship to the Acheulean industry is questioned by some experts.

It is assumed that the Acheulean finds in Slovakia include tools from the Lower Palaeolithic, whose chronology and cultural classification is uncertain and which were discovered during field surveys on river terraces of the rivers Danube (Bratislava and surroundings), Hron (Banská Bystrica), Hornád (Ordzovany, Spišské Podhradie, Seňa) and on loess profiles in the valley of the river Váh. A flat hand axe and a more complex worked core and chopping tools resembling simple choppers have also been found in Karlova Ves (one of the districts of Bratislava).