Fauresmith

An older term used to refer to the final Acheulian phase in the southern African interior. It was a Stone Age industry with tools representing a development from the final Acheulian handax tradition; the handaxes were small, were well-finished, and pointed. At Saldanha, Fauresmith artifacts were likely contemporary with a Neanderthal-like skull similar to the one from Broken Hill.

The name formerly given to a stone industry now recognized as a final phase of the South African Acheulian. Named after a town in the Orange Free State, the ‘Fauresmith industry’ was characterized by the presence of small, neatly made, pointed hand axes.