PB114 - SUPREME BONE-CRUSHING AFRICAN OLDOWAN PEBBLE CHOPPER AXE WITH FANTASTIC WIND SHEEN PATINA

Product Description

ITEM # 

PB114

ID

Oldowan Pebble Chopper Axe

FOUND

Exposed Site - NW Sahara Desert, North Africa

AGE

LOWER PALEOLITHIC:  1.8 million - 800K years ago

SIZE

4.8" x 3.4" overall

CONDITION

INTACT AND COMPLETE - NO REPAIR OR
RESTORATION - 100% GENUINE WITH "DESERT
VARNISH" WIND GLOSS PATINA AND SEDIMENT
IN MICROSCOPIC RECESSES.

NOTE

FINEST TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE WITH PERFECT,
'AS MADE' CUTTING EDGES - RARE!  AN AXE LIKE 
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN IDEAL TO CRUSH BONES
OF LARGE HUNTED GAME TO GET TO THE PRIZED
BONE MARROW THAT WAS THE MOST NOURISHING
PROTEIN OF THE ANIMAL.

Actual Item - One Only

Comes with a certificate of authenticity / information sheet

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OLDOWAN PEBBLE TOOLS

This is a classic OLDOWAN PEBBLE CHOPPER AXE and is a perfect candidate for demonstrating the earliest primary human stone tool of the Oldowan Tradition of Africa's Lower Paleolithic Period.  It is made from quartzite with a natural "desert varnish", a sheen from millennia of wind exposure in the desert.  The minute crevices of the surface of the stone show no modern crushing or flaking and are filled with desert sediment testifying to its authenticity.  The chopping edge is complete and undamaged as made with no modern handling damage.  It shows a blunt chisel end which would have been ideal for smashing open the bones of large hunted game to get to the cherished marrow inside.  Bone marrow was the richest nourishing food of the animal.  The grip is perfect and natural cobble outside makes for a very comfortable grip, broad for cushioning heavy blows.  Workmanship is superb and this specimen would make an ideal reference example of exactly what an Oldowan Pebble Chopper Axe should look like.  NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION - AS MADE!  SCARCE and with our highest recommendation.

Oldowan pebble tools are THE FIRST recognized tools invented by the earliest of primitive humans from Africa.  These tools are seldom seen in private collections or public exhibits.  Oldowan sites exist in numerous regions of the continent but it takes a very knowledgeable collector to be able to weed out all the naturally-occurring rocks that litter the ground from an actual pebble tool specimen.  As the origin of humanity and as the earliest of tool technologies, this African Oldowan specimen poses a very important potential addition to any advanced collection of Paleolithic artifacts.  It was made by the African Homo erectus known as Homo ergaster.   African pebble tools are not common on the market compared to their much later Acheulian relatives.  This specimen is part of a very limited collection we acquired.  Despite the fact that there are probably more Oldowan tools in Africa compared to the European specimens we offer, very few African pebble tools are collected or available for public acquisition.  This offering poses a rare opportunity to own an AUTHENTIC example of the first known tool type made by humans - a window into the mind and design thought process of our earliest ancestors. 

No one can doubt the importance that pebble tools hold in the history of human development.  Their very emergence in Africa nearly two million years ago allowed the earliest humans to butcher animals for their meat - the needed nourishment that allowed humans to survive and flourish to one day populate and rule the earth.