ENORMOUS RARE GOLDEN JASPER NEANDERTHAL MOUSTERIAN TWO-HANDED DEFLESHING SCRAPER FROM FONTMAURE FRANCE *M476

Product Description

SEE MORE MOUSTERIAN NEANDERTHAL TOOLS

For  comparison prices, please see the "Old World Typology and Price Guide" section of the "OVERSTREET IDENTIFICATION AND PRICE GUIDE TO INDIAN ARROWHEADS" editions 7th, 8th and 9th.

Fashioned out of a giant nodule of rich, golden jasper that the famous Neanderthal Fontmaure site is known for, this extremely large BIFACIAL SIDE SCRAPER was fashioned by a Neanderthal over 40,000 year ago, in classic MOUSTERIAN TRADITION.  What looks like a tool core is actually a carefully refined massive scraper that resembles a giant SIDE SCRAPER but has been adopted to work as a two-handed scraper that would have been ideally suited to be pulled towards the user when de-fleshing large hides.  The area where held shows a perfect choice of orienting natural depressions in the nodule for the fingers and web of both hands to grip the tool as shown in the first photo.  The right side of the tool in the photo needed not extra work on the nodule but three flakes were removed on the tool grip on the left of the photo to round and smooth the tool in the left hand.  The underside has been complete flaked with a central depression for the index fingers of both hands.  A extensively refined shaving cutting edge shows long-term use and prehistoric re-sharpening over the entire length of the edge.  Most of the original jasper nodule cortex was retained on the grip end as this was a perfectly ergonomic surface needing no further flaking.

While most Mousterian flake tools fall within much small sizes of various typologies, there are rare occasions where specimens are seen that are not the norm.  Since Fontmaure was an open camp used by Neanderthals in the warmer seasons, making a large tool such as this, would have been practical to reside on site, to be re-used each season to de-flesh large hides of mammoth, horse, bison and bear for clothing and tent shelters. 

Unlike their much larger predecessors of the Acheulian, Mousterian flake tools are much smaller in comparison, but this specimen far exceeds the typical size of even Acheulean flake tools!  Could it have been a communal tool or owned by a group leader?  Who knows but it is the absolute largest yellow jasper Fontmaure Paleolithic tool we have ever encountered.  It was found in association with other Mousterian tools and on the same subterranean layers from Neanderthal occupation. 

Unlike inferior surface-collected specimens that occasionally are offered on the market, this artifact was dug from the actual subterranean level that was once a Neanderthal occupation layer.  What this means is that it was not weathered and damaged by exposure to the elements or plow.  It features a rich natural soil sheen from long-term sediment burial and mineralization.  Original minerals and patina deep in microscopic crevices and hinge fractures provide evidence of its prehistoric authenticity - traits not found in modern or altered copies.  This was the largest Mousterian jasper artifact of a very large private Dutch collection that spanned two generations, collected over 50 years ago.

This is one of the most impressive and unusual Neanderthal Fontmaure jasper objects we have ever offered!

Fine quality Mousterian Neanderthal artifacts with European provenance are RARE and often move from one private collection to the next.  Most sites are now depleted, destroyed, or built over, and all are protected by law forbidding modern day digging.  The market continues to demonstrate these top grade Paleolithic Early Man artifacts will continue to appreciate in price as collector demand outpaces the limited supply.  Most collectors often buy pieces and never resell, adding to the scarcity of the supply.  Investment aside, no Paleolithic collection should be without representative tools of one of the most famous primitive humans in history!

HISTORY

Out of the many archaeological sites in France containing Paleolithic objects, Fontmaure is one of the "Crown Jewels" of the period of the Neanderthals. This site is very small, spanning only approximately one acre. It gets its name from the neighboring farm where it is located. Artifacts from Fontmaure have been dated to at least 40,000 years old and are classified as from the Chatelperronian and Mousterian era, having been fashioned by the Neanderthal people. One of the unique published finds of Fontmaure is the very beautiful and unique jasper which is only found here and is primarily red and yellow. Many of the objects found in Fontmaure are made of this stone with other objects made of sandstone, flint and light gray quartz. This light gray quartz originates from a place that is situated about hundred kilometers from Fontmaure. Another unusual feature is that, to date, it is one of a few known open-air settlements. Even more interesting is the fact that along with the stone tools found, human and animal figures have also been excavated. There are also stones used in some type of ritual, such as triangular stones, round discs and stone balls (bolas) that have been discovered in Fontmaure. These art objects of the Neanderthals make up some of the oldest art known from Europe!  Today, we find the unusual, bright colors of the Fontmaure Neanderthal tools to be intriguingly beautiful and no doubt, the Neanderthals of prehistory coveted and prized these pieces, as well!