EXCELLENT AFRICA ACHEULEAN UNIFACIAL HAND AXE MADE BY HOMO ERECTUS (ERGASTER) *ACH467

Product Description

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This Saharan Acheulean handaxe was made and used by Homo ergaster (African Homo erectus).  It was surface-collected from an exposed Acheulian site in the Northwestern 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 Acheulean tools, only crude pebble tools existed in the human fossil record.

This is a superb example of an CORDATE UNIFACIAL Acheulean hand axe made of quartzite.  A prominent bulb of percussion bulge can be seen on the flat face, a result only found in human-struck flakes versus natural broken flakes that are not Paleolithic stone tools.  A hand axe of this design would have yielded very sharp cutting edges making it ideally suited to dismember large hunted game, and separate meat and fat from large bones.  During the time of this axe in the Lower Paleolithic Period, there were large elephant, hippopotamus, and giraffe species in Africa, that primitive humans would have hunted.  An axe like this was necessary to butcher such large kills.  An excellent made flat facet has been flaked off the proximal end for a comfortable grip when held against the palm.  No modern flaking is evident with the entire surface showing a very worn, "Desert Varnish" patina from hundreds of thousands of years of open exposure.  One face shows superb RADIAL flaking workmanship.  This is a rare and fine grade reference specimen featuring all the premium features for this period and technology.  "Desert varnish" and bi-color patina indicates extreme long-term exposure undisturbed, on one side - traits only found in authentic African Paleolithic artifacts.