The role of the the hand ax for hunting is explored in
http://www.williamcalvin.com/bk5/bk5ch8.htm

     The Acheulean hand ax is far, far older: it was the most
     prominent feature of the Acheulean toolkit made by Homo
     erectus between 1.5 and 0.3 million years ago. It is found
everywhere
     from the tip of Africa to Europe to South
     Asia, made of whatever local rocks were handy.

(More "throwing theory" stuff
 at http://www.williamcalvin.com/throwing.html ).


Philip Thrift
"Paleofitness"
http://www.paleofitness.com