Handaxe and Tektites from Bose, China
Date of Discovery: 1996
Discovered by: A team led by Hou Yamei and Rick Potts
Age: About 803,000 years old
Location of Discovery: Bose, China
Smithsonian scientists and their Chinese colleagues found this and other handaxes in the same sediment layer with tektites, small rocks that formed during a meteor impact 803,000 years ago.
Since the handaxes and tektites were in the same layer, both are the same age. Early humans must have moved into the area right after the impact. They may have made the handaxes from rocks that were exposed when forests burned.
- Title: Bose Basin handaxe
- Physical Dimensions: 10 x 18cm
- Type: Stone tool
- Rights: This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. The image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. http://www.si.edu/termsofuse
- External Link: View this object record in the Smithsonian Institution Human Origins Website
- Photo Credit: Chip Clark: National Museum of Natural History
- Historic Period: About 803,000 years old
- Field: Anthropology
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