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SET OF TWO LARGE NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN LEVALLOIS FLAKE BLADES FROM LA FORET, DORDOGNE Rock Shelter - Dordogne (La Foret), France MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (MOUSTERIAN): 80,000 - 40,000 years ago This authentic 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 is a remarkable set of two MOUSTERIAN LEVALLOIS FLAKE KNIVES. The flake blades are classic Levallois flakes and show broad cutting edges and very thin cross-sections. These perfectly intact specimens were dug from a subterranean level dating to the Middle Paleolithic Era with extensive evidence of Neanderthal habitation. A superb and perfect example set from this famous site! Every artifact collection should have at least one beautiful Levallois flake tool to demonstrate the advancement in thinness and refinement of the flake by the refinement of the Neanderthal masters. 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 Levallois Technique was an important advance in stone tool technology for primitive humans. This method of flake manufacture was first employed in the Acheulian Era about 250,000 years ago by archaic Homo sapiens but perfected in the Middle Paleolithic Era by Neanderthals. It consists of starting with a core of stone and using heavy percussion hammering on one side to remove large flakes in a radial or linear fashion. A single heavy blow at one end of the core struck the flake off and the end result was a prepared flake (Levallois) with a convex shape on one side (from initial flake removal when still attached to the core) and a flat side on the other (from the side split off the remaining core). Edges of this struck flake were then retouched to create the desired cutting edge but the geometry of the two sides remained. It was the Levallois method employed by Neanderthals to manufacture a variety of early tools including the first points that were hafted to wooden poles for use as spears. 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. EXPERTLY MADE LARGE BUT THIN FLAKE LEVALLOIS KNIVES FROM THIS IMPORTANT TOOL TECHNOLOGY SITE NOW PROTECTED AND NO COLLECTING HAS BEEN ALLOWED SINCE 1986! THESE ARTIFACTS HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO APPRECIATE BECAUSE OF THIS 2.25" in length each $365 M176 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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