Journal of A rchaeological S cience (1998) 25, 817–825 Article No. as970265 Quantitative Analysis of the Symmetry of Artefacts: Lower Paleolithic Handaxes Idit Saragusti* and Ilan Sharon Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel Omer Katzenelson and David Avnir Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel (Received 22 September 1997, revised manuscript accepted 11 November 1997) The ability to perceive and produce symmetrical shapes is usually taken to be a major step in the development of human cognition. Despite the importance of the concept of symmetry to studies of early human development, its current use is usually based on loose qualitative assessment. A more informative approach would be to use a continuous scale of this shape property rather than the strict current language of ‘‘more’’ or ‘‘less’’. A symmetry measurement tool has been developed, which is based on evaluation of the minimal distances that the vertices of a structure have to move in order to attain the required symmetry. Using this Continuous Symmetry Measure (CSM) method, it is possible to evaluate quantitatively how much symmetry exists in a non-symmetrical configuration and how the nearest symmetrical shape looks. We test and demonstrate the feasibility and versatility of this approach on handaxe samples from three Lower Paleolithic sites in Israel, Ubeidiya, Gesher Benot Ya’aqov and Ma’ayan Barukh, representing various stages in the Acheulian Techno-complex of the Levant. We provide, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, quantitative demonstration that the overall symmetry of handaxes generally increases, and that the variability decreases over time.  1998 Academic Press Keywords: ACHEULIAN, LOWER PALEOLITHIC, HANDAXES, SYMMETRY. Background: The Near Symmetry of Handaxes T he concept of symmetry has attracted virtually all domains of intellectual activity and has strongly influenced the sciences and the arts, archaeology being no exception (Hargittai, 1986, 1989; Gruber & Iachello, 1988 and earlier volumes in this series; Toth, 1990; Heilbronner & Dunitz, 1993). It has functioned as a condensed language for the description and classification of shapes and structures, as an identifier of inherent correlation between structure and physical properties of matter, and as a guiding property to artistic and practical aesthetic design. Because symmetry is one of the main shape charac- teristics of handaxes from Acheulian assemblages, it has been at the focus of many Lower Paleolithic studies. Scholars investigating this period have often argued that the ability to perceive symmetrical shapes, as expressed in the production of many handaxes, is meaningful in attempts to reconstruct the evolution of human cognitive, behavioural and technological capacities. Wynn (1985: 37), for instance, used the ability to perceive bilateral symmetry, as manifested in typical Late Acheulian handaxes, as a major argument for relating a higher degree of intelligence to the makers of these tools compared with the degree of intelligence demonstrated by the earlier Oldowan industrial tradition. He argued that the spatial con- cepts required to manufacture Oldowan tools are rather simple, topological in their nature, whereas the manufacture of typical symmetric Late Acheulian handaxes (as well as other tools) had required more sophisticated Euclidean concepts. Using the Piagetian theory of developmental psychology, Wynn argued that this difference in spatial concept requirements is indicative of the different developmental stages of the makers of these two industrial complexes. He also proposed that the ‘‘minimum necessary competence’’ manifested in the Oldowan repertoire is that of pre- operational intelligence (Wynn, 1985), and is similar to that recognized for modern apes (Wynn, 1993: 306). This degree of intelligence is inferior to the one ascribed by Wynn to the makers of the Late Acheulian assemblages, the operational intelligence, the charac- teristic intelligence of modern adults. In effect, Wynn proposed qualitatively a correlation between the degree *For correspondence: E-mail: Goren@hum.huji.ac.il 817 0305–4403/98/080817+ 09 $30.00/0  1998 Academic Press