ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hand axe

Hey kiddo! Are you ready to learn about hand axes?

A hand axe is a tool that people used a very long time ago to help them do things like chop wood, hunt animals, and build homes. It's called a "hand" axe because you hold it with one hand while you use the other hand to swing it.

Picture holding a big rock in your hand, and then using another rock to hit it and shape it into a sharp edge. That's kind of what people did to make hand axes! They would find a big rock with a shape that felt good in their hand, and then hit it with another rock over and over again until it took on the shape of an axe.

Hand axes were really important for people to have because they helped them do things more easily. For example, if someone needed to build a fire, they might use a hand axe to chop up some wood into little pieces. Or if they were hunting an animal, they could use a hand axe to make a sharp spear or to cut up the animal after they caught it.

Even though people don't use hand axes as much anymore, they are still really important because they help us understand how humans lived a long time ago. So next time you see a picture of a hand axe or visit a museum, you'll know just how amazing these ancient tools were!