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Product Description
SEE MORE LOWER PALEOLITHIC ACHEULEAN STONE ARTIFACTS
This superb European Acheulean flint bifacial hand axe was fashioned by Homo erectus (H. heidelbergensis), the first humans to occupy Europe. It dates back to the Lower Paleolithic Period, made in the Acheulean Tradition, and was the predominant tool technology of the Homo erectus people in Europe from 1 million years ago to possibly as recent as 130,000 years ago.
With exquisite flaking that yielded and unusually thin cross-section, this INVESTMENT-CLASS flint hand axe features an elongated form with original cortex retained on the proximal end. The reason this cortex was retained was for an ingenious use of the natural nodule form that serves as a comfortable grip in hand. Both sides show extensive flaking and the tip is still intact as originally made, with prehistoric use wear. Due to the size and thin blade tip, this hand axe was likely used to butcher and dismember large hunted game animals of the Ice Age such as mammoth, bison, horse, and rhino. Millennia of burial and age deepened the patina to a mesmerizing dark burnt orange hue, adding further beauty and rarity to an already prize piece of European human prehistory!
Fine quality European Acheulean hand axes are far more rare than their Saharan counterparts and often move from one private collection to the next as many sites are now destroyed, built over or protected. In the past decades, European auctions have routinely set records for the highest prices realized on spectacular examples of Prehistoric European stone tools like this. Finest grade specimens are so few in number while the buyer market continues to expand and chase after the best material with no apparent price ceiling in sight. Nevertheless, the prices STILL, are a paltry comparison to much of the more mature rare collectibles on the market and Paleolithic artifact prices still really don't reflect the substantially higher rarity of these artifacts. As ever-increasing buyer demand continues to pursue the best pieces, the actual number of this material is sobering and we are likely to see prices easily rise ten-fold on top-grade specimens, in the next several years. The words "undervalued" and "collectible" are seldom found together in today's world but the realm of European and African Paleolithic artifacts is one where you can still find an emerging market and one of the greatest promises for future investment.
From a very old former French collection. Today, digging for new specimens is forbidden and has been for decades with most of the best pieces being found in the first half of the last century. Finding an exquisite piece like this ONLY comes from coveted old collections in Europe and hand axes like this usually move from one collection to the next in private collector circles, rarely making it out of the country. Very highly recommended! No Paleolithic collection should be without representative tools of Europe's first humans!
WARNING: This specimen possesses a fine prehistoric patina and mineral deposits. Such traits are missing in the fake tools being passed off as genuine tools by fraudulent and/or uninformed dealers selling in auctions, online, at shops and shows. The market is currently awash in fakes and ancient debris shards sold as genuine Paleolithic tools. Make sure you get an unconditional certificate of authenticity and know your dealer is knowledgeable AND informed.
