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NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN FLINT UTILIZED FLAKE TOOL WITH SEDIMENT DEPOSITS Rock Shelter - Dordogne (Village of Plazac), France MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (MOUSTERIAN): 80,000 - 40,000 years ago This 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 specimen is classified as a utilized flake tool. Utilized flakes lack specific tool shapes but exhibit evidence of use and reuse as a tool. This example was made from a very thin flake and possesses a slightly curved cutting edge. One side is heavily encrusted with the original occupation layer deposits and this encrustation covers portions of the retouched blade showing reuse. Entire curved edge has been resharpened and shows wear from retouch. This rare Neanderthal tool was collected in a rock shelter from a subterranean level that was once a Neanderthal occupation layer. Famous site find! NO RESTORATION, NO REPAIR and NO 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. ORIGINAL CAVE DEPOSITS / ENCRUSTATION INTACT ON THIS UTILIZED NEANDERTHAL FLAKE TOOL! 2.1" in length SOLD M102 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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