Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to a stage of tool culture of the Lower Paleolithic Period between the second and third interglacial periods, characterized by flaked bifacial hand axes.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to Saint-Acheul, in the Somme valley, northern France.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Alternative spelling of Acheulean.
  • noun Alternative spelling of Acheulean.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French acheuléen, after St. Acheul, a hamlet in northern France.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Acheulian.

Examples

  • Thought to be our direct ancestors, these hominins probably mastered fire and were the first to develop cutting and butchering instruments known as Acheulian tools, named after an archaeological site in Saint-Acheul, France.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • Since that discovery, paleontologists have unearthed evidence that the earliest chipped stone "Acheulian" hand axes originated in Africa about 1.8 million years ago.

    A deeper history for the humble handaxe 2011

  • Dennell writes, "this new evidence from Attirampakkam makes it all the more important that we find out what type of human species first brought Acheulian artifacts to South Asia."

    A deeper history for the humble handaxe 2011

  • Three occupation sites of the Acheulian culture (between 500,000 and a million years B.P.) have been found in the Park.

    Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, South Africa 2008

  • As Alun Salt expands upon in a similar post on Egnor's misplaced analogy, however, archaeology's "design detection" is understood only because of a body of background experience, observation, experimentation and general hypothesis testing has already informed us that an Acheulian handaxe, for example, was made by early Homo and is not the result of lightning bolts.

    Archive 2007-05-01 Christopher O'Brien 2007

  • As Alun Salt expands upon in a similar post on Egnor's misplaced analogy, however, archaeology's "design detection" is understood only because of a body of background experience, observation, experimentation and general hypothesis testing has already informed us that an Acheulian handaxe, for example, was made by early Homo and is not the result of lightning bolts.

    Discovery Institute's Luskin and Egnor Contradict Each Other On Archaeology's Role In Intelligent Design Christopher O'Brien 2007

  • For instance, the Acheulian culture of early prehistory is named after the northern French town of St. Acheul, where the stone hand axes so characteristic of this culture are found.

    e. Analysis and Interpretation 2001

  • Although only a few tools lay beside the fossil, Mary decided to sink an exploratory trench, and this time was rewarded with the discovery of a “fine Acheulian site about 400,000 years old,” as she wrote in her autobiography.

    Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995

  • “In fact,” he has written, “it is still a trait among prehistorians today as can be seen when one hears such expressions as ‘my Neanderthals’, ‘my Acheulian’ or, indeed, ‘my site’!”

    Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995

  • Although only a few tools lay beside the fossil, Mary decided to sink an exploratory trench, and this time was rewarded with the discovery of a “fine Acheulian site about 400,000 years old,” as she wrote in her autobiography.

    Ancestral Passions Virginia Morell 1995

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.