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VERY LARGE NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN FLINT BACKED KNIFE Rock Shelter - Dordogne (Village of Plazac), France MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (MOUSTERIAN): 80,000 - 40,000 years ago This remarkable and rare stone tool was fashioned by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago out of flint and discovered in the world famous region of Dordogne, France, considered to be the "Capitol of Prehistory". The site this specimen was excavated from is now closed and protected by the government. This rare artifact was legally collected with the landowner's permission decades ago before the area was sealed. Dordogne is one of the world's most famous Neanderthal regions and the fact that this archeological site is off-limits to any collecting, makes this wonderful stone tool artifact exceedingly rare and desirable! This rare Neanderthal flint knife was made on a substantial flake indicating its intention to be used on heavy material - most likely animal hide. The cutting edge shows masterful retouching. Sediments from the layer in which it was found are still attached to the surface. It was discovered in a rock shelter with other tools and some broken fossil animal bones, mostly likely fractured for the prized marrow inside, a valuable Neanderthal food source. Intact original surface sediment is invaluable should anyone care to perform scientific analysis of this material and is always a premium when found on stone tools. It is this sediment that can hold the secrets as to the time period, associated organic materials, key identifying trace minerals and chemistry of the soil to prove provenance, etc. The blade edge is sharp and exhibits extensive signs of retouching. A superb example from this famous site! NO RESTORATION, REPAIR OR MODERN DAMAGE. Our fortunate purchase of a very old private collection from the original excavator allows us to offer this artifact at a price WELL BELOW ITS BOOK VALUE. The MOUSTERIAN tool tradition gets its name from artifacts discovered at a primitive rock shelter named Le Moustier located in southwestern France. Compared to the bulkier tools of the Acheulian produced by the Levallois technique, Mousterian tools are comprised of smaller flakes from an exhaustively worked core which are then retouched on the edges to make a large variety of tools. These tools are not only smaller than Acheulian specimens, but they are more specialized for their various tasks. Mousterian tools can be broadly put into four classes: 1) SAWS (Denticulate Tools) and KNIVES, 2) SCRAPERS 3) BORERS 4) HANDAXES, CHOPPERS and CLEAVERS. Mousterian tool-makers were the primitive humans knows as the NEANDERTHALS. Neanderthals had massive skeletons and teeth, flat foreheads and heavy brow ridges. Their skulls were larger than a modern man and contained an average brain capacity of 1500 cc, averaging slightly larger than humans of today. A HUGE EXAMPLE ON A THICK FLAKE WITH CHOICE RETOUCHING - MEANT FOR HEAVY USE ON HIDE SITE NOW PROTECTED! 2.7" in length $225 M085 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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