AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR
CANADIAN DOLLAR
EURO
POUND STERLING
US DOLLAR
Product Description
ID
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Acheulian Tool
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FOUND
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Exposed Site - Sahara Desert, NW Africa
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AGE
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ACHEULIAN: 1.2 million - 500,000 years ago
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SIZE
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6.6" long x 3.5" wide
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CONDITION
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INTACT AND COMPLETE - NO REPAIR OR
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NOTE
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RARE IN BASALT - NARROW UNBROKEN
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Actual Item - One Only
Comes with a certificate of authenticity / information sheet |
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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ACHEULIAN TOOLS
With most Lower Paleolithic tools from North Africa being made of quartzite, this is an unusual specimen made of orange basalt! The countless millennia of wind exposure has formed a fantastic gloss and patina across the surface. Out of hundreds upon hundreds of Acheulian hand axes we have handled from North Africa, this is the first time we can recall an axe made of this lithic. It would have been extraordinarily difficult to shape and flake because this stone is so hard and tough. Despite this, the workmanship and sharp, UNBROKEN tip show beautiful form and preservation. Fits well in either hand with a narrow, piercing tip that is original as first made! Comfortable proximal grip, rounded and extremely well made. In "as found" ORIGINAL condition with NO REPAIR AND NO RESTORATION. Tip is not broken from recent damage or mishandling and is in perfect original form.
This handaxe was made and used by early humans of the species Homo erectus (ergaster). It was surface-collected from an exposed Acheulian site in the Sahara Desert of North Africa. This Lower Paleolithic tool represents the first intelligent design type known to science that was made by primitive humans. Prior to these Saharan Acheulian handaxes, only crude pebble and flake tools existed in the human fossil record.
