(CNN) Hand axes unearthed from a riverbed in the county of Kent in southeast England have revealed one of the earliest known Stone Age communities in northern Europe. While the stone tools were discovered in the 1920s and kept at the British Museum, a new study has dated them accurately for the first time using modern techniques -- confirming that early humans lived in southern Britain between 560,000 and 620,000 years ago. "The diversity of tools is fantastic. In the 1920s, the site produced some of earliest handaxes ever discovered in Britain. At the time these tools were used, Britain was not an island but part of the European continent.

Source: CNN June 23, 2022 02:40 UTC