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A History Of The World In 100 Objects: priceless treasures from the British Museum

Below are some of the items which will feature in A History Of The World In 100 Objects, which has been written and presented by the museum's director, Neil MacGregor.

Handaxe found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, around 1.2 million years old.

Fashioned from fine-grained, green volcanic lava called phonolite, this is one of the best surviving examples of the hand-held cutting tools which were first made in Olduvai Gorge about 1.5 million years ago. They were still in use there some 500,000 years ago by which time their manufacture and use had spread throughout Africa, south Asia, western Asia and Europe. No other cultural artefact is known to have been made for such a long time or across such a huge geographical range.

Chinese Zhou ritual bowl, c. 1100-1000BC, possibly from Henan Province, China...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)