Acheulean

American  

[uh-shoo-lee-uhn] / əˈʃu li ən /

Or Acheulian

adjective

1. of, relating to, or typical of a Lower Paleolithic culture of the middle Pleistocene Epoch, characterized by large hand axes and cleavers made by the soft hammer technique.

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Etymology

Origin of Acheulean

1890–95; < French acheuléen, named after St. Acheul, N France (Somme) (where remains were found) + -éen, variant of -ien (< Latin -iānus -ian ), originally with nouns ending in -é

Example Sentences

Excavated within the Oulad Hamida Formation, Thomas Quarry I is already known for containing the oldest Acheulean tools in north-western Africa, dated to about 1.3 million years ago.

From Science Daily • Feb. 7, 2026

These tools were heavy and powerful, the signature of an era of ancient hominin technology known as the Acheulean.

From Washington Post • Mar. 15, 2018

Even though H. erectus in East Africa had invented hand axes, part of the so-called Acheulean toolkit, by 1.76 million years ago, none have been found here at Dmanisi.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 22, 2016

The earliest dated Acheulean is about 1.75 million years ago from southern Ethiopia and from Lake Turkana in Kenya.

From Scientific American • Aug. 19, 2015

But, on the face of it, the greater refinement of the Acheulean handiwork looks as if it had been literally hammered out by steadfastly following up the Chellean pattern into its further possibilities.

From Progress and History by Marvin, Francis Sydney