Use-Wear Analysis Shows Changing Handaxe Grip and Use Across Time at la Noira (France)

Abstract Handaxes — sub-oval bifacially flaked stone tools — were produced for over a million years across Africa, Europe, and Asia during the Lower Palaeolithic. Their relatively uniform shape across varied environments and over a million years raises the question of whether or not their function and purposes were also uniform. Previous studies suggested that handaxe shape might be related to patterns in use and maintenance, but the level of analysis may have been too coarse to tease out specific uses. This study investigates the function of handaxes from two successive Acheulean occupations at the la Noira site (France), separated by ca. 200 ka. This research aimed to find out how hominins generally used handaxes through microscopic use wear analysis. Specifically, we documented macro-wear characteristics such as type (micro-scars, edge crushing, striations, edge rounding, polish), and their relative position and distribution. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to translate these observations into wear location heatmaps — visual representations highlighting areas of intense or repeated use — and compared these across different occupation periods. The analysis revealed that similar handaxes were likely held in different ways and used for different tasks during the two phases of occupation at la Noira, at 700 ka and respectively 450 ka. These findings suggest a more complex scenario of handaxe use than previously understood, including changes in tool use modalities over time that reflect changes in handaxe function and hominin technical behaviors.