Abbeville

Abbeville is a city in the Picardie région, in the north of France.

Prehistory

The name Abbeville has been adopted to name a category of early stone tools. These stone tools are also known as handaxes. Various handaxes were found near Abbeville by Jacques Boucher de Perthes during the 1830's and he was the first to desribe the stones in detail, pointing out in the first publication of its kind, that the stones were chipped deliberately by early man, so as to form a tool. These earliest stone tools found in Europe were chipped on both sides so as to form a sharp edge, are now known as Abbevillian handaxes or bifaces . The earlier form of stone tools, not found in Europe are known as Oldewan choppers . A more refined and later version of handax production was also found in the Abbeville/Somme River district. The more refined handax became known as the Acheulean industry, named after Saint Acheul, today a suburb of Amiens .

Related Topics:
Handaxes - Jacques Boucher de Perthes - Abbevillian - Bifaces - Oldewan - Acheulean - Saint Acheul - Amiens

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