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RARE LARGE QUARTZITE ACHEULIAN KNIFE 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 KNIFE (not a handaxe) from the Sahara and was fashioned out of quartzite, initially struck from a large cobble. After hundreds of thousands of years of exposure to the wind, it is severely worn into a sculptural oddity yet still retaining its workmanship and original form. The flake was originally struck with a natural back. One side is flat and fits against the palm perfectly when held. The other side was then flaked to create a sharp cutting edge. This tool would have best functioned in the left hand - likely used as such as meat and hide was pulled and held to be cut by the right hand. This tool spent considerable time exposed which resulted in a heavy and beautiful wind gloss which is 100% original and natural, as found. PERFECT WITH NO MODERN DAMAGE, NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. FLAKE TOOLS from the SAHARAN ACHEULIAN are 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. 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. ACHEULIAN SAHARAN FLAKE TOOLS ARE SELDOM SEEN IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS - MUCH RARER THAN AXES SEVERE AND FASCINATING WIND EROSION - THE FIRST SAHARAN ACHEULIAN KNIFE WE'VE OFFERED! 4.75" in length x 3" wide $195 ACH-057 Actual Item - One Only |
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