The Gray's Inn Lane Hand Axe is a pointed flint hand axe, found buried in gravel under Gray's Inn Lane, London, England, by pioneering archaeologist John Conyers in 1679, and now in the British Museum.

[1] The hand axe is a fine example from about 350,000 years ago, in the Lower Paleolithic period, but its main significance lies in the role it and the circumstances of its excavation played in the emerging understanding of early human history.

[4] A pointed flint hand axe was found nearby,[3] At the time, it was commonly thought that humans had been on earth for a relatively short period of time,[1] and that stone tools were used by people who simply lacked the knowledge to create metal tools.

Elephants were living in Britain at this time, during a period in the Ice age when the climate was similar to that of today.

[1] The hand axe is currently displayed in the "Enlightenment Gallery" of the British Museum, which is housed in the King's Library.