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SUPER RARE! CAPSIAN BACKED LUNATE CRESCENT ARROWHEAD Exposed Saharan Site - Mauritania, Northwest Africa NORTHWEST AFRICAN NEOLITHIC PERIOD (CAPSIAN): 8,500 - 6,500 years ago This CAPSIAN TRADITION tool was found on an exposed African Neolithic site in the Sahara Desert in Mali, Northwest Africa. It was masterfully fashioned by man (Homo sapiens sapiens) between 8,500 and 6,500 years ago. This type of projectile is EXTREMELY RARE. Cited as such in the Old World section of the 8th Edition of the Overstreets Arrowhead guide, this specimen is exactly like the examples labeled #93 featured on page 1315. The author states that this type is "usually unseen in collections". Past excavations have actually discovered some of these rare transverse points still attached to their wooden arrow shafts thanks to the aridity of the Sahara allowing an ideal environment for preservation. From these finds, we can assert the intended use of these arrowheads. Ethnographic studies suggest these were used both untreated or often dipped in poison. The target was very large game (up to the size of giraffes) unable to be brought down by ordinary hunting techniques. The idea was not to fell the animal immediately but to target the main arteries and sever them, causing the massive prey to succumb over a period of several days. This is a superb and completely INTACT example of these RARE bleeding type projectile points and the classification is called a BACKED LUNATE. It consists of flint that has been patinated white from exposure. This example exhibits the finest workmanship and a razor-sharp transverse edge. Where most of these are found in sizes between 1" - 1..25", this is a VERY LARGE example at nearly 2 inches! THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS (IF NOT MILLIONS) OF CONVENTIONAL PROJECTILE POINTS FOR EVERY ONE OF THESE! The entire crescent back has been retouched. In 'as found' condition with NO RESTORATION, NO REPAIR and NO MODERN DAMAGE. An exclusive offer! In the final Pleistocene and early Holocene Periods around 10,000 years ago, the Sahara was believed to be a highly favorable environment for hunters, gatherers and pastoralists. Freshwater lakes existed between the dunes in what is now the Tenere region, Lake Chad was eight times its current size, the highlands supported Mediterranean forest trees, and a large fauna of animals flourished. The slow drying out process of the Sahara, began 7,000 years ago and ended 4500 years ago resulting in the barren conditions that exist to this day. As we progress from the time from the end of the Pleistocene to the end of the Paleolithic Period, we see man relying more on meat from raised animals as opposed to hunted animals. At the end of the Pleistocene Period in North Africa, a blade industry developed called the CAPSIAN TRADITION. The Capsian industry runs simultaneously with the Oranian industry and began around 11,000 years ago (9,000 years ago in the Northwest region). This later tradition is responsible for the influence of the Oranian industry and eventually succeeds it at the close of Paleolithic Period, ushering in the Neolithic Age of stone tool manufacture in this region of Africa. Most notable during the era of the Capsian tradition is the proliferation of various blades and bladelets eventually leading to MICROLITHIC technology. Microliths are tiny flake blade tools and segments of blades that are used as they are or set in composite tools of wood or bone for use as barbs or to make saws. The various tools of the CAPSIAN TRADITION represent some of the most delicately flaked and beautifully executed smaller stone tools of man. By this time, the flaking methods utilize small punches for extreme control in the removal of material and shape of the blade being made. Some points were so perfectly executed that they were not used at all but served as items of prestige by their owner and are sometimes found in association with burials. These finest points and blades from this period rival any stone implement ever made by primitive man and were sometimes manufactured out of the most stunning gem-grade material such as fine translucent chalcedony and agate as well as transparent crystalline quartz. By this late age of lithic tool manufacture, stone implements have undergone man's development by both trial-and-error and cognitive thinking spanning an overall time exceeding one million years. VERY FINE FLAKING TO PRODUCE A LARGE THIN BROADLEAF - UNIQUE, COLORFUL AND WELL-MADE! 1.9" in length SOLD ORCAP-049 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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