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GRADE 10 RARE ACHEULIAN GIANT ROBUST TURTLEBACK BIFACIAL HANDAXE Exposed Site - Algerian Sahara Desert, North Africa LOWER PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (ACHEULIAN): 1.2 million - 500,000 years ago This rare Saharan Acheulian handaxe 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. With its massively thick form gained by a raised "turtleback" profile on one side, this robust Acheulian bifacial handaxe would have been perfectly suited for heavy killing blows or bone-smashing butchering tasks on large game. It represents a kind of specimen that is rarely seen outside of well-fitted private collections or museum inventories. This handaxe is a massive example fashioned with greater thickness and heft than usually seen. This specimen is one of the largest and heaviest Saharan Homo erectus handaxes we have offered! The chopping point on this example is still intact and in remarkable condition. Entire axe exhibits a well-executed design and possesses a fine desert varnish (a natural glossy surface caused by the exposure of the stone to the blowing sands over many thousands of years) and bi-color patina from ages of exposure. You can see exactly how this axe lay partially exposed with the proximal end exposed at an angle and the point buried with the side showing encrustation facing downward. This is a VERY RARE INVESTMENT GRADE example that is in "as found" ORIGINAL condition. NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. This specimen was decommissioned from our private museum collection and will be the only one like it to be offered for sale. GENUINE Acheulian hand axes of this quality and size are rare and recent realized prices at major auction houses are proving what we have been saying for years that authentic high grade tools of primitive man remain one of the most promising investments. 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 top) 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 game. Scientists have shown that these tools exhibit wear common to butchery uses. 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. FINEST AND LARGEST HANDAXE OF THIS KIND WE HAVE EVER OFFERED - INVESTMENT GRADE AND RARE! 8" in length x 5.5" wide SOLD ACH-080 Actual Item - One Only |
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