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FACETED PLATFORM ON SIDE FOR PALM REST AND HAND COMFORT WHEN IN USE
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RARE TEXTBOOK GRADE LARGE QUARTZITE ACHEULIAN FLAKE SCRAPER MADE BY HOMO ERGASTER (ERECTUS) Exposed Site - North Sahara Desert, North Africa LOWER PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (ACHEULIAN): 1.2 million - 500,000 years ago This rare and wonderful Saharan Acheulian flake tool was made and used by Homo ergaster (African Homo erectus). It was surface-collected from an exposed Acheulian site in the Northern Sahara Desert of North Africa. This Lower Paleolithic tool represents the first intelligent design type known to science that was made by primitive humans. Prior to these Saharan Acheulian tools, only crude pebble tools existed in the human fossil record. Very seldom seen in private collections, a tool this type is extremely rare. It is a flake scraper (not a handaxe) from the Sahara and was masterfully fashioned out of quartzite. The patina is of one of the most pleasing colors we have ever encountered - a warm, rich salmon tone on one side with a rich dark bronze tone on the other. This tool spent considerable time exposed which resulted in a heavy and beautiful wind gloss. Extensive flaking on the outer side. Large bulb of percussion on the inner side. PERFECT WITH NO MODERN DAMAGE, NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. FLAKE SCRAPERS from the SAHARAN ACHEULIAN are much more rare then their Saharan Acheulian HANDAXE counterparts. While handaxes are rather obvious in design and easy to therefore, recognize when collecting on a site, smaller flake tools have less obvious features at first glance and easily blend in with surrounding scrap flakes and natural stones. The vast majority of private collections lack Acheulian Saharan flake tools in comparison to handaxes from the same period. Fits perfect in the LEFT HAND only and as attractive as it is comfortable! In Africa, the Acheulian Tradition is well-defined and most diverse when compared to other regions where it eventually spread to. HANDAXES are the most typical bifacial tool associated with this period. Different from the bifacial tools from the earlier Oldowan Period, Acheulian tools are fashioned from large flakes as opposed to using a whole cobblestone as the core. Along with handaxes, other bifacial tools that are Acheulian are CLEAVERS (large handaxes with a flat chopping edge) and PICKS (robust elongated, trihedral tools). Other stone implements found at Acheulian sites are small tools like NOTCHES, SCRAPERS and SPHEROIDS (round flaked stone balls). Most tools of this period were fashioned from basalt or quartzite. The actual function of handaxes is debated. Some suggest they were not used as a chopping tool but for butchering large game. Scientists have shown that these tools exhibit wear common to butchery uses and these tools have been found in association with prehistoric elephant bones on intact "kill sites" of this period. Other scientists have theorized they were thrown into a herd as a deadly spinning projectile. Probably the most interesting theory and one that explains why many unworn and pristine condition tools have been found abandoned is that of the tool's use not as a tool at all but as an aid to sexual attraction. Possibly, males used techniques of being able to fashion symmetrical stone axes to attract females and demonstrate they were the most capable individual for survival and support of a family. If you were a primitive human able to make a large symmetrical handaxe, this would show you were genetically superior and an excellent candidate for mating. There is much evidence that contradicts this theory but it sure is quite an interesting hypothesis. Based on the varieties of utilitarian handaxe designs, and not only obvious wear from use but actual well-thought flaking designs to best fit ones hand, there's really little doubt that these stone tools were relied upon on a daily basis for primitive man's existence. ACHEULIAN FLAKE TOOLS ARE SELDOM SEEN IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS - AAA GRADE LARGE EXAMPLE! 4.4" in length x 3.2" wide SOLD ACH-055 Actual Item - One Only |
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