Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter, Devon UK

Stone tools

Stones transformed into a thousand tools.

With a wide range of objects from RAMM's collections this exhibition shows the variety of raw materials used to produce handaxes, spear heads and scrapers. It reveals sources of suitable stone in south west England and takes a look at some of the main sources from around the world.

This is a rare opportunity to explore the geology and material science of stone tools rather than their often discussed historical or cultural importance. Find out whether people used local rocks or traded stone over long distances. See how the physical properties of the stone influence the final shape, type and quality of the tool. Discover the latest dating methods and how scientists can determine the source of the stone. Examine and handle stone tools and learn how to identify them.

Kents Cavern is a prehistoric cave and award winning visitor attraction. The site was used by Britain's earliest ancient humans thousands of years ago and today the cave is the only underground visitor centre in the UNESCO Global Geopark, a protected national monument and an internationally renowned prehistoric show cave.