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ROBUST EUROPEAN OLDOWAN PEBBLE TOOL SCRAPER WITH FOSSIL IMPRESSION AND INTELLIGENT GRIP DESIGN 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tool technology from European sites is VERY rare and scattered since the pebble tool technology had already been superseded by the proliferation of Acheulian bifacial handaxes roughly three quarters of a million years earlier!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 Oldowan pebble tool was fashioned by Homo erectus over half a million years ago. This tool was made from a stone cobble and was found on a site once occupied by early humans near the eastern English Coast near the Thames River in the U.K.. This particular tool is a PEBBLE TOOL SCRAPER manufactured in the Oldowan tradition. It possesses a SPECIAL NATURAL FEATURE that likely made it a prize tool to its former prehistoric human owner - a sea shell fossil impression on its surface! Not surprisingly, it shows more wear use than many other specimens of its kind we have examined. One can theorize that the primitive human users of this tool chose to keep it and use it more as they admired and cherished it over other common pebble tools due to such a unique physical characteristic of this fossil impression. Could they have even attributed some magical or religious meaning to the feature? Such fossil impressions in flint cobbles are seen on occasion but they are rare. This tool would have definitely stood out as it was the only one of a large collection we acquired that had such a feature. This specimen is a classic example of an OLDOWAN PEBBLE SCRAPER. There are areas removed by steep, opposing strikes (not possible from natural environmental forces) to create a sharp cutting edge on ones side and leaving a comfortable end for holding on the other. There is also a spot that was struck to use as a finger grip when applying pressure downward with the index finger. The cutting edge shows extensive use wear and the struck surfaces possess heavy flint patina from extreme age and exposure. Workmanship is excellent and typical of this tool tradition. Complete and INTACT with 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. UNUSUAL, AESTHETIC FEATURES WITH SHELL FOSSIL IMPRESSION ON SURFACE A CLASSIC OLDOWAN FLAKE TOOL OF EUROPEAN ORIGIN FROM EUROPE'S FIRST HUMANS! 2.1" across SOLD PB070 Actual Item - One Only |
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