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MOUSTERIAN QUARTZITE OVATE BIFACIAL HANDAXE FROM NORTH AFRICA Exposed Site - Algerian Sahara Desert, North Africa MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD (MOUSTERIAN): 80,000 - 40,000 years ago This handaxe was fashioned out of quartzite in the Mousterian tradition and used by primitive humans between approximately 80,000 and 40,000 years ago. It was collected from an exposed Mousterian site in the Algerian Sahara Desert of North Africa. The tool tradition of the Neanderthals is called the Mousterian Tradition. The Mousterian Tool Culture is found in one of the longest and most spectacular sequences in the whole of North Africa. Several open and cave sites are documented. Oddly, the North African Mousterian technology appears as fully developed unlike the gradual formative stages found in Europe. Evidence suggests that North Africa was populated by Neanderthals moving down from southern Europe in pursuit of hunting migrating populations of certain Euro-Asiatic animals of the period, as they entered northern Africa. This is an OVATE BIFACIAL Mousterian handaxe from North Africa. It is probably one of the most affordable examples if you are looking for a reasonably priced specimen to use as a teaching aid or for collections with limited finances. Its form is classic with visible bifacial working and a well-made form. Extreme exposure has caused some of the stone surface to exfoliate and a natural fissure in the quartzite has opened up but this is prehistoric in its nature as sediment can be seen IN THE FISSURE upon study under magnification indicating this is not a recent condition. All these keeps an otherwise expensive, well-made specimen in a range of excellent affordability. The tip is intact and the proximal end is well-rounded and fits superbly in the hand when held for use. Unlike their much larger predecessors of the Sahara during the Acheulian, Mousterian handaxes are much smaller in comparison. Nice flaking and shaping are still visible despite wind erosion. This axe possesses natural desert wind erosion and surface deposits - traits of an authentic Paleolithic Saharan artifact . In "as found" ORIGINAL condition with NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. 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. AN EXCELLENT AND MOST AFFORDABLE GENUINE SPECIMEN FOR TEACHING OR COLLECTIONS WITH LIMITED BUDGETS 4.25" in length x 2.5" wide SOLD M234 Actual Item - One Only |
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