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EUROPEAN WHITE QUARTZ PEBBLE TOOL CHOPPER Eastern English Coast Near the Thames River, U.K. LOWER PALEOLITHIC PERIOD: 700,000 - 500,000 years ago Of all the rare primitive human stone tools we could offer, pebble tools from the first humans are perhaps the most rare. Oldowan tool technology from European sites is VERY rare and scattered since the pebble tool technology had already been superseded by the proliferation of Acheulian bifacial handaxes roughly three quarters of a million years earlier! Oddly enough, these two traditions were brought into Europe by Homo erectus moving north up from Africa. Both traditions existed for a limited time together at the beginning of human existence in Europe with pebble tool technology eventually giving way to more advanced traditions of core and flake tools. Truly, no artifact could be more important or impressive to collectors of European descent than one which had been fashioned and dates back to the VERY FIRST humans of Europe! This magnificent pebble tool was fashioned by Homo erectus over half a million years ago. This tool was made from a flint cobble and was found where a primitive settlement of these early humans once lived near the eastern English Coast near the Thames River in the U.K.. The site's age has been determined through stratigraphic studies and examination of remains. NOTE: We will only be offering a limited quantity of these ultra-rare tools. They were acquired from a private museum in Europe and of the small lot that we acquired, the vast majority from this site will be reserved for a future private museum we will be setting up here in the U.S.. Of all the tools we could ever offer, pebble tools from the first humans of Europe are the rarest and most limited we have. Once we have sold the pieces we have from this site, there will be no more. This particular tool is a small PEBBLE CHOPPER, a chopping tool manufactured in the Oldowan tradition. It was made from a very hard quartz pebble. It shows an angled cutting / chopping edge with evidence of impact damage and use wear. The natural rounded proximal end fits perfectly in the hand and would have served as a very ergonomic surface to absorb impact when cutting meat or bone. Rocks broken by natural enviromental action such as glacial movement are broken cross-wise and do not exhibit an angled cutting edge as this specimen shows. This specimen was collected from a site where many other pebble tools were found but the vast majority of the tools were flint but some were found to be made out of these white quartz cobbles. It is very difficult to make complex pebble tools from this material because it is so extremely tough. The trade-off is the fact that flaked edges are very sharp and remain sharp for a longer period of time compared to flint because of the hardness of quartz. To understand this specimen and pebble tools in general, it is a MUST to hold and experience in hand because the photos do not convey the features of the grip. Nice patina with iron mineral deposits on the outer AND inner flaked surfaces as a testament to the age of the flaking. NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION. As found and with our highest recommendation. The first hominids in Europe migrated north from Africa some time after 700,000 years ago. Some sites in France, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia suggest that this might have occurred even earlier but evidence is not conclusive. Evidence for existence after 700,000 years is definite with many sites being dated from 700,000 to 400,000 years ago. These first humans were Homo erectus. Most of these sites were located alongside rivers or lakes where stone tools are found alongside debris and bones of large mammals. The tools of this time were very primitive having been fashioned by striking river cobbles to produce a crude chopping tool. Sometimes, the flakes were used to make scrapers and points. Human fossils and coprolites have also been discovered at sites in Southern France. The coprolites were found to contain pollen which was used to further provide evidence of an exact date of the sites. The primary source of food was the meat of big game hunted in the region. The early technology of pebble tools coexisted up to 400,000 years ago in Europe with biface axes of the Acheulian tradition. The more advanced bifaces were flaked all over and created a much more portable and defined tool. It is still not fully understood why such a primitive tool technology such as the Oldowan tradition was brought into Europe for the Acheulian bifacial tools proliferated Africa well before the migration of humans northward. No one can doubt the importance that pebble tools hold in the history of human development. Their very emergence in Africa nearly two million years ago allowed the earliest humans to butcher animals for their meat - the needed nourishment that allowed humans to survive and flourish to one day populate and rule the earth. A RARE TOOL FROM EUROPE'S FIRST HUMANS - EUROPEAN LOWER PALEOLITHIC! 2.4" across SOLD PB067 Actual Item - One Only |
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