ID

Acheulian Tool

FOUND

Exposed Site - Sahara Desert, NW Africa

AGE

ACHEULIAN:  1.2 million - 500,000 years ago

SIZE

6.6" long x 3.5" wide

CONDITION

INTACT AND COMPLETE - NO REPAIR OR
RESTORATION

NOTE

RARE IN BASALT - NARROW UNBROKEN
ORIGINAL TIP - CHOICE WIND WEATHERING

Actual Item - One Only

Comes with a certificate of authenticity / information sheet

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.