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MASTERPIECE WORKMANSHIP NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN FLINT HANDAXE WITH PRONOUNCED THUMB REST Rock Shelter - Caen, France MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (MOUSTERIAN): 80,000 - 40,000 years ago This rare handaxe was fashioned out of flint by Neanderthals over 40,000 years ago and discovered from a very important archeological site in Caen, France. The site this specimen was excavated from is now closed and protected by the government. This valuable artifact was legally collected with the landowner's permission decades ago before the area was sealed. Caen is one of France's 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! *** NOTE: This is one of very few Neanderthal handaxes we have plan to offer for sale over the course of our history. They come from our private museum collection where the majority will remain permanently. In an effort to periodically fund the further development of this museum, we have decided to release this specimen from our collection to public sale. GENUINE Neanderthal handaxes such as these are too rare and too few in numbers to offer on a regular basis for sale. This is a CHOICE GRADE example of an MOUSTERIAN HANDAXE. It features true master craftsmanship with a perfectly ergonomic grip design and a pronounced thumb rest as seen above. Excellent overall bifacial workmanship and form. It is uncanny how these smaller Mousterian handaxes EXACTLY can duplicate the form and function of the much larger Acheulean handaxes that predate them! All edges are intact and a well-formed tip is present. Soil sheen is natural and testament to tens of thousands of years of burial. The form and execution of this extraordinary handaxe is absolutely the finest one could ask for. Unlike their much larger predecessors of the Sahara during the Acheulian, Mousterian handaxes are much smaller in comparison. Not only are Mousterian handaxes considered some of the rarest and most prized tools of the Neanderthals, this exquisite representation is a perfectly executed bifacial example with ingenious multi-use features. Overall workmanship clearly indicates a HIGHLY SKILLED Neanderthal craftsperson fashioned this superb and truly MUSEUM GRADE specimen. Rich patina shows a HEAVY olive-cream hydration patina from thousands of years subjected to a wet environment. Microscopic examination reveals mineral deposits throughout from the original sediment layer this specimen was collected from. Found in a prehistoric Middle Paleolithic rock shelter site. This specimen is the finest shaped specimen we could offer and is the quintessential example of the high level of Neanderthal workmanship in a stone flaked tool! NO RESTORATION AND NO REPAIR. The Levallois Technique is a method of flake tool manufacture that 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 fashion, creating a "turtle-back" profile on one side of the core. A single heavy blow at one end of the core struck the flake off and the end result was a prepared flake (a la 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. RARE WORKMANSHIP / QUALITY - MASTERPIECE! - MADE WITH A PERFECTLY ERGONOMIC GRIP AND THUMB REST 2.25" in length $1395 M194 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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