US DOLLAR
EURO
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR
CANADIAN DOLLAR
POUND STERLING
Product Description
No artifact could be more important or impressive than the first stone tool of primitive humans. This Oldowan Tradition pebble stone tool dates back to the VERY FIRST humans of Europe! It was found in England near the Coastal Norfolk town of Runton, a region home to evidence of some of the oldest human occupation in the UK, as well as all of Europe. This rare pebble tool was fashioned by Homo antecessor over half a million years ago. It was discovered in the same general area of the famous Happisburgh footprints, the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa, dated to 950,000 years old.
This particular tool set includes THREE pebble tool scrapers manufactured in the Oldowan tradition. Two are made from flint cobbles and the largest, from a sedimentary rock with a calcite vein running down the center. Classic textbook features can be seen with strategic flakes removed by opposing strikes to create a sharp cutting edge and regions to aid fingers in holding when in use. Much of the original pebble outer cortex remains, providing a naturally ergonomic grip on the tool versus a sharp flake. A heavy colorful patina and intact mineral deposits deep in flaked micro-crevices, provide proof of the age and authenticity, and are features not seen in modern forgeries. Workmanship on all is excellent affording a well-thought out design and functional grips when held.
These Oldowan tools were found in England near the Coastal Norfolk town of Runton. The area was once part of a prehistoric river estuary system that flowed into the North Sea and included the Thames, fed by an extinct river from the Midlands called the Bytham. The Bytham River was one of the great Pleistocene rivers of central and eastern England until it was destroyed by the advancing ice sheets of the Anglian Glaciation around 450,000 years ago. Its estuary system included Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Derbyshire, and it flowed eastward across East Anglia to the North Sea. It was formed prior to the Anglian ice advance roughly 450,000 years ago, originating around modern day Reading, and flowing northeast to a delta somewhere between modern day Happisburgh and Norton Subcourse in East Anglia. During this time in prehistory, southern England was connected to France by a land bridge and the rivers, including the Rhine, flowed north into a lake formed at the edge of the ice sheet. This region is also famous for the discovery of the remains of a Steppe Mammoth dated to 600,000 years. The fossil discovery in West Runton marks the oldest mammoth skeleton to have been found in the UK and the most complete specimen of the species to have been found in the world.
WARNING: There are a host of these "tools" for sale on Ebay and many online sellers' websites providing less information and understanding of Lower Paleolithic specimens. Many of these sources offer nothing more than damaged ancient river cobbles caused by environmental action (glacial disturbance, frost damage, etc.) or modern made fakes. Every broken cobblestone found is NOT a human-created Paleolithic tool! The determination of what is man-made and what is an ordinary broken river rock requires a very high level of understanding Paleolithic tool manufacture and technique as well as the experience to be able to differentiate the two and authenticate a genuine stone tool from this culture. Know your source and only deal with well-informed sellers who can help you understand the difference.
