RARE SANDSTONE SHARPENER FROM THE AFRICAN TENERIAN NEOLITHIC CULTURE OF THE GREEN SAHARA *CAP336

Product Description

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On a dinosaur fossil-hunting expedition in 2000 by a team of scientific explorers led by Paul Sereno, a paleodune and ancient lakebed site was discovered that yielded over 200 ancient burials of Kiffian and Tenerian people.  The scientific findings showed that this area was once a humid lake region that was home to a hunter-fisher-gatherer people.  The area became known as the "Green Sahara" for its once fertile and habitable landscape.  Noted paleontologist, Dr. Paul Sereno, famous for other Saharan dinosaur discoveries, shot into the archaeological spotlight with his discovery of the ancient lakebed cemetery at Gobero in Niger in the year 2000.  Interred in the many burials were numerous stone tools, ceramics, shells, beads and bone harpoons typical for the lifestyle of these ancient people of the Green Sahara.  This RARE and exceptional AUTHENTIC artifact is similar to the specimens found at Gobero.  It comes from the same period and Tenerian Neolithic Culture of that famous discovery. 

Ground out of hard sandstone, this well-designed multi-use sharpener shows fantastic ergonomics in a highly developed Neolithic tool. This extremely rare artifact would have been so few in numbers compared to the many stone projectile points, beads, jewelry, axes, and flake scrapers it would have been used to shape and sharpen.  One of the rarest objects found at the Gobero site were barbed harpoons made of bone.  A sharpener like this would have been perfectly suited to manufacture and sharpen such a tool, as well.  The hard and rough grit sandstone that this sharpener was made from would have been ideal to quickly shape and sharpen objects in stone, bone, ivory and horn.  Of the very large private French collection of Tenerian objects we acquired this from, there were only a handful of sharpeners of any and all sizes, and this was the only sharpener shaped like this design with multi-use surfaces!

The curvy form of this sharpener allows easy and comfortable holding from a variety of perspectives.  There are three grooved sharpening surfaces and a ridged curve shaping surface that could have been used to shape large objects.  The porous surface still holds the original mineral deposits deep in microscopic crevices - irrefutable evidence of its age and authenticity.  The small darkened recess on one end appears to be a natural anomaly in the stone.  

The region where Tenerian artifacts were once found is now protected preventing any collecting.  Furthermore, it is located in extremely dangerous open desert regions under constant unrest occupied by armed bandits and terrorists.  We were very fortunate to have acquired an old French private collection of these artifacts by former expedition guides to the region in the 1960's and 1970's.  We have a very limited amount and once sold, we will never be able to replace them.  Objects from the Tenerian African Neolithic culture are so rare that not even most major museums have a single object in their collection.

HISTORY

The Earth has been warming and cooling for millions of year, well long before humans were on the planet.  One of the most dramatic examples of climatic change in the last 10,000 years is the desiccation of what is now the Sahara desert.  Prior to as recent as 3000 B.C., the South Central Sahara region in Africa was a humid lake savanna.  It was home to a thriving culture of ancient humans known as the Tenerians and before them, the Kiffians.  The occupation of this area by these two peoples occurred continuously from around 7700 B.C. to the drying of the Sahara in 2500 B.C.. 

In the final Pleistocene and early Holocene Periods around 10,000 years ago, the South Central Sahara Desert was once a highly favorable environment for hunters, gatherers and pastoralists.  Freshwater lakes existed between the dunes in what is now the Tenere region, Lake Chad was eight times its current size, the highlands supported Mediterranean forest trees, and a diverse variety of both large and small fauna flourished there.  The slow drying out process of the Sahara, began 7,000 years ago and ended 4500 years ago resulting in the barren conditions that exist to this day.  As we progress through time from the end of the Pleistocene towards the end of the Neolithic Period there, we see humans relying more on meat from raised animals as opposed to hunted animals that once roamed wild in the formerly Green Sahara.