The name given by de Mortillet in the 1880s to the epoch characterized by hand axes in his classification, equivalent to the Lower Palaeolithic. It replaced the term Acheulian, which was eventually reinstated after a long and confused debate. The concept of epochs, favoured by de Mortillet, has now generally been abandoned, and the term Acheulian is normally used for hand-axe assemblages. Chelles sur Marne, after which the Chellian was named, is a site near Paris.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied