300,000-year-old 'giant stone tools' discovered in Kent

A giant stone tool of length 29.5cm is one of the longest ever found in Britain. The excavations took place in Kent, which revealed 800 prehistoric artefacts in deep ice age sediments preserved on a hillside above Medway Valley. These artefacts are said to be 300,000 years old.

The excavations were commissioned in advance of the development of the Maritime Academy School in Frindsbury and the noteworthy artefacts have been published in the Internet Archaeology journal.

The two most important discoveries were:

Two large flint knives described as 'giant handaxes'

A Roman cemetery, dating to at least a quarter of a million years later than the Ice Age activity.

Archaeologists' words

Letty Ingrey, a senior geo-archaeologist at the UCL Institute of Archaeology describes the tools as ‘giants’ when they are over 22cm long and these findings have two in this size range.

She further said that 'giant handaxes' like these were found in the Thames and Medway regions. On the size of these handaxes, Ingrey said that it's difficult to imagine how they could have been held and used easily. Ingrey said these giant tools fulfilled a "less practical or more symbolic function" and demonstrated strength and skill.

UCL Institute of Archaeology's Dr Matt Pope said that the excavations allowed studying how the Ice Age landscape developed.

He adds that specialists from UCL and other UK institutions will now help them understand the site's importance to ancient people and how these giant handaxes helped them adapt to the challenges of the Ice Age.

About the site

This site in Kent is dated back to the early prehistory period of Britain. This is the period when Neanderthal people and their cultures were emerging. It is assumed that they may have shared the space with other human species.

Medway Valley would have been a wild landscape of wooded hills and river valleys back then. The inhabitants at the place could have been red deer, horses, lions, and straight-tusked elephants.

FAQs

Q1:How old are the artefacts found in Kent?
The artefacts belong to 300,000 years old and were found on a significant ice age site in Kent.

Q2:Where are the details of the artefacts published?
The details of the Kent Ice age site findings have been published in the Internet Archaeology journal.