Lower Paleolithic Acheulean Flint Handaxe, Lanceolate Form – 7.5" L

Prehistoric, French, Western Europian. Western Europe, [likely northern France], Lower Paleolithic, Acheulean industry, ca. 500,000 to 200,000 years ago. Either Homo Heidelbergensis or early Neanderthal. An elegant, elongated hand-axe knapped from lustrous brown-grey flint. It has a broad, rounded butt that would have fitted comfortably in the palm, tapering to a long, slender point. Both faces were worked with a series of bold, invasive flake removals, then refined with finer trimming along the edges toward the tip. The result is a remarkably balanced, almost symmetrical outline: a hallmark of the advanced Acheulean tradition. Hand-axes were the multipurpose tool of early humans for more than a million years, used for butchering, chopping, digging and working wood and hide. Lanceolate examples like this one, with their drawn-out points and careful symmetry, reflect a level of planning and aesthetic sensibility that has led many researchers to see these tools as among the earliest expressions of the human sense of form. The translucent flint shows a soft natural patina with tan and grey mottling, and it glows beautifully when held to the light. Item # 205705

Estimate:$650

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