The finds were made during the construction of a new school. The artifacts lay in deep Ice Age sediments protected on the hillside above the Medway River valley. Scientists removed 800 stone artifacts believed to be more than 300,000 years old.

What scientists have learned

Among the artifacts were two extremely large flint axes (cutters). They were chiseled on both sides to create a symmetrical shape with a long blade. Such a tool was hand held. It was probably used for skinning animals and processing meat.

The two large chopsticks found near the seashore have a distinctive shape, with long and finely worked pointed ends and a much thicker base.

At around 30 centimeters long, the tools are the longest ever found in the UK and the third in the world. Similar helicopters have already been found near the Thames and Medway.

Giant helicopters / Photo Archeology Southeast/UCL

Letty Ingree of the Institute of Archeology at the University of California, London, says: “These hand axes are so big it’s hard to imagine how they could be easily held and used. They may have served a less practical and more symbolic function. It may have been a show of strength and skill. Not now. It’s clear that ancient humans did. I’m sure these excavations will at least help find some answers.”.

The site is thought to date back to early English prehistory, when Neanderthals appeared, but they may have shared the landscape with other human species. Back then, the Medway Valley was a wild landscape of forested hills and river valleys inhabited by tusks and lions, as well as red deer and horses.