MOUSTERIAN NEANDERTHAL FLINT TOOL CORE USED AS A HAMMERSTONE FOR FLINT KNAPPING FROM FRANCE

Open Air Site - Plateau de Foncroze, 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.  The fact that this archeological site is off-limits to any collecting, makes this wonderful stone tool artifact exceedingly rare and desirable!  Because collecting these artifacts has been off-limits for decades, genuine fine grade Mousterian Neanderthal tools such as this specimen are most certain to continue to appreciate in value as time goes on.

This is an interesting specimen.  It was formerly a FLAKE TOOL CORE that after being exhausted (not feasible to flake off any more pieces), it was then employed as a HAMMERSTONE, used to strike flakes and cobbles in the knapping of other tools.  You can see the flat top which was larger at one point and was the platform from which strikes yielded flakes from the core.  There is an edge and base that shows EXTENSIVE impact wear that indicates how this core was held as a hammerstone.  The smooth sides would have made it easy to hold as the stone was hit against other flakes and cores to make scrapers, blades and even hand axes.  The flint color is typical for Le Grand Pressigny and not typical for the area so the tool's discovery locale indicates that flint sources were traded and carried by Neanderthals at distances beyond the local camps.  This is the FIRST Mousterian hammerstone we have offered and more uniquely, it was formerly a tool core, demonstrating the resourcefulness of Neanderthal thought.  Absolutely recommended!!!  NO RESTORATION, REPAIR OR MODERN DAMAGE. 

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. 

SUPERB EXAMPLE OF A USED UP TOOL CORE THEN UTILIZED AS A HAMMERSTONE FOR KNAPPING OTHER TOOLS - MOUSTERIAN!

HAMNMERSTONES WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL IN THE STONE AGE - WITH IT, ALL OTHER TOOLS CAN BE MADE!

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN TOOLS FOR SALE

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