3 acheulean hand axes. The first I knapped myself last year and is pictured earlier in my blog. The other 2 were cast from the original in bronze and iron using the lost wax method. The bronze axe weighs almost 2 pounds, with the iron axe weighing slightly less. The three taken together illustrate the three age system proposed by Danish archaeologist Christian Jurgensen Thomsen, the stone age, bronze age, and iron age. The model has been criticized since it was proposed as Eurocentric and insistent that progress moves along a set path of development towards the present although it still remains broadly used. Although the technology may change, the basic need for tools fulfilling a specific function remains the same.