FINEST LARGE GOLDEN FLINT NEANDERTHAL SPEARHEAD MOUSTERIAN POINT FROM FRANCE WITH REDUCED BASE FOR HAFTING *M507

Product Description

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Made by a Neanderthal toolmaker exhibiting the peak skill of their craft between 160,000 and 40,000 years ago, this is an LARGE and FINEST Levallois Mousterian point Neanderthal Spearhead.  Most Mousterian points only as long as this one is wide!!  Not only is this a maximum size projectile point, it was fashioned out of the beautiful warm golden flint.  It was found in Compiegne (Oise department), of northern France.  It shows masterful secondary flaking down both sides to refine and shape its spectacular form.  Some of the original cortex remains and the flaking was worked around these areas.  The wide shoulder near the base then tapers back again to the bottom original striking platform of the flake.  This broad profile allowed two things - 1) it achieved a very wide cutting edge to inflict an enormous wound, and 2) it created a "shoulder" by which the point could have been securely lashed to a wooden pole.  The tip is intact and exhibits actual use wear, and the entire point is perfect and exactly as originally made.  The edges show evidence of use and re-use from re-sharpening by its former Neanderthal owner.  Surface shows prehistoric patina and mineral deposits still embedded in the hinge fractures - irrefutable evidence of an authentic specimen. 

As Neanderthals hunted large game such as Woolly Mammoth, Woolly Rhinoceros, Bison, Horse, Aurochs, and Megaloceros, they also needed an effective weapon to protect themselves from Cave Bear, Cave Hyena, Cave Lion, and most likely, each other!  Such a massive projectile point as this would have been a requirement to take down the largest and most deadly beasts of their day!  The large size and perfectly oriented pronounced central rib for strength, allowed this point to survive the penetration of a thick hairy hide, and be driven deep to reach a vital organ. This is an incredibly impressive specimen and impossible to improve on.

The Mousterian point is the scarcest of all Neanderthal stone tools - much more rare than hand axes!  Mousterian points are Levallois points that show secondary flaking down the cutting edges, often refining the point's shape and allowing re-use by re-sharpening.  The Mousterian point is theorized to have been used as spearheads mounted on the ends of wooden poles, and employed to stab large prey by Neanderthal hunters.  By this time, Man had not yet invented the bow and arrow but intact Neanderthal wooden spears have been scientifically documented in situ.  The Mousterian Point or Levallois Point would be humanity's first spearhead, and the precursor to the arrowhead!  Lashed to a wooden pole, it was a milestone invention of a new weapon for hunting large game.  Now, the megafauna of the day could be hunted with greater success.  Such a weapon would have also given prehistoric humans a more effective weapon against each other.

Found in one of the most iconic regions of Stone Age history, France is home to some of Europe's most spectacular Paleolithic sites.  These sites have long been closed and off-limits to any collecting, which makes this scarce prehistoric weapon a highly desirable acquisition piece for the best collections or investment!  This  Mousterian Point came from a very old French collection as is the case with all the best material being stashed for decades and decades in private collections of yesteryear when collecting was possible.  Today, all source sites have been closed and protected for many decades, preventing further digging of any new artifacts - all the factors that will continue to drive values and prices for these rare artifacts up at a consistent rate of appreciation.