Becoming Human

Early Craftsmanship, to the right of this column, is a new feature on BecomingHuman. This 18-minute video is an introduction to humankind's first surviving technology, demonstrates how stone tools were made and looks at how this technology became more complex.

Stone tools played an important role in human evolution and one of the most significant stone technologies was the Acheulean, distinguished by the tools' characteristic tear drop and oval shaped handaxes. This technology, named for the place in France where some of the first examples were found in the 19th century, was thought to have originated around 1.4 million years ago (ma).