300,000-year-old tools, flint slabs cut on both sides to create jagged edges, were found among more than 800 artifacts buried on a hillside above the Medway Valley in Kent, England.

“We define these tools as ‘giant’ if they are longer than 22 cm, and there are two in this size range,” senior archaeologist Letty Ingree of the UCL Institute of Archaeology said in a press release.

“The larger of the two handaxes, about 30 centimeters long, is one of the longest axes ever found in Britain,” said Ingrey, who participated in the excavation.

Archaeologists believe such tools were often used to stab animals or pierce their skin. But these handaxes are “so big it’s hard to imagine how easily they could be held and used,” Ingri said.

“They may have served a less practical or more symbolic function than other tools — a clear display of power and skill,” he said.

According to a press release, the Medway Valley area was then the most important hunting ground, with deer, horses, and now-extinct spur-toothed elephants and lions roaming the area. According to the press release, early humans had this landscape, as did Neanderthals, whose peoples and cultures were just beginning to emerge in the area.

“At this point, we’re not sure why such large tools were made, or what kind of early humans made them,” Ingrey said. Said.

“This place can answer vexing questions,” he added.