ASEBL Journal – Volume 11 Issue 2, Spring 2015
value that only occurred much later. Acheulean hand axes are far more numerous
than their Oldowan counterparts, with such abundance having been a problem for
explanation in archaeology previous to sexual selection analysis (e.g. Roe 1981,
Wymer 1983). Further, many show little, or even no use of macroscopic damage,
meaning Acheulean hand axes were produced in thousands without ever being
used for practical purposes, probably with no intention of such use, and often being
too large in size for practical purpose. One site at Boxgrove uncovered not a single
Acheulean hand axe with signs of use (Roberts et al. 1997). Additionally, many
hand axes have been found that intentionally use rare materials that give the hand
axe a special, unique quality, the most famous of these being “Excalibur”, a dark
red quartzite hand axe that looks like a large blood-red ge \