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At the end of the century a Mr. Conyers found, opposite 'Black Mary's' near Gray's Inn Lane, a handaxe associated with the tooth of an elephant, (fn. 2) probably that of either a mammoth or the straight-tusked elephant (E. antiquus). John
Bagford in a letter dated 1715 suggested that this elephant
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At the time, it was commonly thought that humans had been on earth for a relatively short period of time, and that stone tools were used by people who simply lacked the knowledge to create metal tools.
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where an engraving of this hand-axe from Gray's Inn Lane is reproduced (fig. 451). It was first reported by John
Bagford in Hearne's edition of Leland, Collectanea, i, p. lxiv.
198:; this was in a letter of 1715, in which Bagford accepted the human origin of the handaxe. With other items from Conyers' collection, the handaxe passed to the collection of
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According to the
British Museum website, the hand axe is now estimated to be about 350,000 years old. Elephants were living in Britain at this time, during a period in the
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when the climate was similar to that of today. The hand axe is currently displayed in the "Enlightenment
Gallery" of the British Museum, which is housed in the
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period, but its main significance lies in the role it and the circumstances of its excavation played in the emerging understanding of early human history.
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190:(1650–1716) published the discovery, rejecting the idea that the assemblage of elephant bones and stone axe had originated from the time of
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Gray's Inn Road, London, England This flint handaxe was found in gravel near the bones of an elephant by John
Conyers in 1679.
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was probably introduced by
Claudius, but at the same time accepted the implement as being of human workmanship.
302:"Archaeology – The Lower Palaeolithic Age | A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1 (pp. 11–21)"
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Conyers was the first to argue that it was a human artefact. After
Conyers' death,
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202:, whose own collection was one of the founding collections of the British Museum.
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167:, opposite "Black Mary's", and the remaining tooth was later thought to be of a
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John
Conyers was present at the excavation in 1679 of the remains of a supposed
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143:. The hand axe is a fine example from about 350,000 years ago, in the
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The ancient stone implements, weapons, and ornaments, of Great
Britain
362:"Archive of Transactions: John Conyers, London's first archaeologist"
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Dr
Woodward's Shield: History, Science and Satire in Augustan England
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194:, arguing instead for its origin in the Roman period under the
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Cockburn, J S; King, H P F; McDonnell, K J T (2011).
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Pointed flint hand axe from Gray's Inn Lane, London
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397:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
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462:Prehistoric objects in the British Museum
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266:"British Museum – Pointed flint handaxe"
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394:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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391:Burnby, Juanita. "Conyers, John".
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163:in gravel; the site was near
411:UK public library membership
113:Map showing the location of
42:165 mm (6 in) long
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16:Paleolithic flint hand axe
235:Joseph M. Levine (1977),
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360:Burnby, Juanita (2008).
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173:straight-tusked elephant
139:in 1679, and now in the
125:Gray's Inn Lane Hand Axe
22:Gray's Inn Lane Hand Axe
264:British Museum (2011).
403:10.1093/ref:odnb/56834
348:British History Online
306:british-history.ac.uk
151:Discovery and history
372:on 28 September 2011
109:class=notpageimage|
127:is a pointed flint
482:Individual weapons
179:was found nearby,
175:. A pointed flint
477:Stone Age Britain
424:J. Evans (1897).
409:(Subscription or
270:britishmuseum.org
145:Lower Paleolithic
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370:the original
366:lamas.org.uk
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192:Noah's flood
188:John Bagford
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161:Battlebridge
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137:John Conyers
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430:. pp.
492:Gray's Inn
456:Categories
438:14 October
413:required.)
376:14 October
311:14 October
275:14 October
230:References
55:Discovered
217:See also
177:hand axe
157:elephant
129:hand axe
487:Holborn
467:Lithics
207:Ice age
169:mammoth
47:Created
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77:London
63:London
243:Notes
472:Axes
440:2011
434:–583
378:2011
313:2011
277:2011
123:The
39:Size
432:581
399:doi
171:or
159:at
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
