A nine-year-old named Ben Witten found a shiny stone at Shoreham Beach in 2021, but a recent trip to a museum led him to discover that he’s actually had a Neanderthal hand ax on display in his bedroom for the past three years.
Worthing Museum / FacebookThe Neanderthal hand ax next to a coin for comparing .
A nine - twelvemonth - old son named Ben Witten was recently visiting Worthing Museum in southern England when he spot something familiar sitting in a Stone Age exhibit : a prehistoric hand ax that looked remarkably similar to a rock on display in his bedroom . Witten find the stone at Shoreham Beach in 2021 and brought it home with him because it was so different from the small pebbles he usually saw there .
Ben and his mother decided to email photos of the “ shiny flint rock’n’roll ” from the beach to the curator of archaeology at the museum — who informed them that it was actually a Neanderthal hand axe . Now , the artifact is on display at Worthing Museum right alongside the axis that inspired Ben to call for interrogative about his own uncovering .
Worthing Museum/FacebookThe Neanderthal hand ax next to a coin for comparison.
A Nine-Year-Old Boy Finds A Neanderthal Hand Ax On Shoreham Beach
In 2021 , when Ben Witten was six year former , he and his family visited Shoreham Beach in Sussex , England . As he toldthe BBC , “ I was looking around and I saw this shiny Flint River sway . I just cerebrate it looked dissimilar to all the other different pebbles and rock . ”
Ben aim the careen home with him and kept it in his bedroom for three year , where he maintain “ losing it and finding it . ” However , until his late trip to Worthing Museum , he did n’t reckon it was anything more than a simple beach stone .
Paul Gillett / Wikimedia CommonsShoreham Beach in Sussex , England , where Ben Witten find the 40,000 - year - old handwriting axe .
Paul Gillett/Wikimedia CommonsShoreham Beach in Sussex, England, where Ben Witten found the 40,000-year-old hand ax.
After seeing the other axes on display in the Stone Age exhibit , Ben and his mother , Emma , decided to netmail photos of the rock to James Sainsbury , the museum ’s conservator of archaeology . Sainsbury was n’t anticipate much when he open up the message — but he was stunned by what he insure .
Ben ’s beach find was a hand ax created by Neanderthals 40,000 to 60,000 years ago during the Middle Paleolithic geological era . It prove “ very little sign of wear , ” and according to aFacebook postby Worthing Museum , it ’s “ so rarefied that most certified archaeologists would never find one themselves . ”
X of thousands of years ago , the body of water would have been much farther from the current shore . Because the axe was found above the gamey lunar time period tune , experts are n’t sure if the Neanderthal who used the tool left it in that slur or if it was dumped there as offshore deposits were dredge onto land to prevent wearing .
Worthing Museum/FacebookBen Witten and James Sainsbury, the curator of archaeology at Worthing Museum, with the prehistoric hand ax.
Regardless of how the ax got to the beach , Ben has agree to lend the prehistoric artifact to the museum so others can admire his discovery , too .
The Prehistoric Hand Ax Goes On Display
Ben was n’t ab initio sure about handing the ax over to Worthing Museum . “ I did need to keep it , ” he severalize the BBC . However , after he come across with Sainsbury , he realized how crucial the artefact was .
Worthing Museum / FacebookBen Witten and James Sainsbury , the curator of archaeology at Worthing Museum , with the prehistoric bridge player ax .
“ They said it ’s their best discovery in 10 years , ” pronounce Ben . “ Now it ’s in a case in the museum . I was really excited , my affectionateness was beating really tight . ”
Emma Witten contribution in her Logos ’s excitement . “ Seeing how it lit up the face of the archaeologist at the museum , it ’s expectant that others can love it , ” she state the BBC .
The hand axe will be on display to the public until at least February , at which point Ben can recover it if he chooses . Sainsbury hopes that the untested boy ’s story will exhort other amateur archaeologists to keep an centre out for unexpected breakthrough and describe any finds they make to the right authority .
After reading about the Neanderthal hand axe discover by a nine - yr - old boy in England , go inside the stories ofnine of the old structures on Earth . Then , read about theLovers of Valdaro , the Stone Age couple locked in an eonian embrace in an Italian grave .
