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Product Description
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.
SEE MORE LOWER PALEOLITHIC ACHEULEAN STONE ARTIFACTS
For the FIRST time in 34 years, we make a rare offering of an African Acheulean hand axe made from translucent chalcedony, from the Tenere Desert region of the South Central Sahara. This specimen comes from an old French collection dated back to the 1960's - 70's in which out of decades of collecting, it was also their only hand axe found in Chalcedony! This will forever remain one of the rarest Acheulean hand axes we will ever offer. It is not only rare to have originated from the Tenere, but it is made in chalcedony which is extremely scarce in the Sahara, and always considered a prestige lithic for its unique glowing translucency when held to the light. It is WITHOUT QUESTION, THIS WAS A PRESTIGE PIECE AND HIGHLY PRIZED FOR THIS GLOWING EFFECT IN THE STONE.
This unique Lower Paleolithic hand axe was made by a Homo ergaster, primitive human, the Homo erectus of Africa. Much of the original natural form of the chalcedony was retained and ingeniously utilized as an ergonomic hand grip, shown in the above photos. Natural depressions in the stone were oriented to offer places for the thumb and fingers to fall into and grip. The bifacially-flaked body shows an expertly made, thin chopping end intact as originally flaked. The still sharp and unbroken chopping tip is PERFECTLY preserved and is complete! A hand axe of this type was ideally suited for butchering large hunted prey in prehistory. Its weight and blade-like chopping end would have been ideally suited to sever hide, flesh and tendons.
GENUINE Acheulian hand axes of this quality are rare and recent realized prices at major auction houses are proving what we have been saying for years that authentic high grade tools of primitive man remain one of the most promising investments.
A Lower Paleolithic hand axe represents the first intelligent design type known to science that was made by primitive humans. Prior to these Acheulean hand axes, only crude pebble tools existed in the human fossil record.
