Tea break turns historic as man discovers 59,000 year-old handaxe

A man named Colin Cooley inadvertently discovered a prehistoric handaxe while he was kicking his feet aimlessly on the ground during a tea break.

57-year-old who hails from Otley, Suffolk, is a dumper driver on the Sizewell C excavation site.

Toward the end of a tea break, he accidentally discovered a piece of rock that he believed looked like an ancient handaxe.

While explaining the day's routine, Mr Cooley said, “It was a normal day at work and we had just finished our tea break. I was on my way back to the dumper, kicking my feet idly, and I thought, ‘Hang on that things just looks like an axehead’”

Being skeptical of its historical worth, Cooley handed it over to one of the archaeologists.

He continued: “ a little while later they ran up to me and said, Colin Colin, you have found an axehead.”

“Then all hell broke loose, everyone got shocked and excited over the unexpected discovery because one had not been found for ages,” he added.

It was a joyous moment for me when the axehead was confirmed to be prehistoric, between 36,000 and 59,000 years old.

Hadley Sharman, an archaeologist working on the site, commented, “it was a blinder of a find.”

The prehistoric handaxe is around 166g, 11cm tall, and 8cm wide. It is believed that this kind of handaxe could be used by Neanderthals.

Mr Cooley has the passion for metal detecting and collecting worthy artefacts. He has previously found a rare Byzantine pilgrim souvenir.