This arrowhead forms part of our wider collection of lithic tools. It dates to between 8000 and 4000 BC and comes from Southern Britain.
The earliest stone tools were recovered from modern Ethiopia and were dated to between two-million and three-million years old. They were made by hard rock being struck against the raw material in order to chip off large flakes and begin to shape the stone. After that, a soft hammer is used to chip away flakes with more precision.
This tool came from a period known as Mesolithic Britain. During this time, the climate was warming, and the Doggerland - a land bridge between Britain and Continental Europe - was being flooded by rising sea water. Tools were becoming more sophisticated, and the types of animals humans were eating were changing from reindeer and wild horse to pigs, red deer, wild boar and wild cattle, which required different hunting techniques.