Quantifying the Functional Utility of Handaxe Symmetry: An Experimental Butchery Approach

A series of experiments to test the relationship between Acheulean handaxe form and effectiveness for butchery and contribute to the continuing discussion regarding the factors influencing handaxe form. Using sixty handaxes, thirty fallow deer carcasses and two butchers a dataset was produced which permitted the statistical analysis of the relationship between effectiveness (measured using the proxies of time and the scorings of the butchers) and nine measures of handaxe morphology (frontal and side symmetry, weight, length, breadth, thickness, percentage of the circumference worked, degree of thinning and degree of elongation). The archived dataset comprises a time log for the use of each handaxe (derived from video footage of the experiments) which details the time taken to complete the various processes involved in the butchery of half a deer carcass, digital images of the experimental handaxe assemblage and summary spreadsheets of the data collected - i.e. time and subjective scorings - for each butcher.