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Product Description
SEE MORE UPPER PALEOLITHIC TOOLS
This is a genuine flint SIDE SCRAPER of the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic Period. It was made by striking a prepared blade core to split off a longitudinal flake blade. This tool was found in the important La Rochette rock shelter site, one of the rare Paleolithic sites famous for producing Cro-Magnon fossil remains. The site is located in the Department of Dordogne, France, a major locale of prehistoric human occupation. Tools like this are specifically attributed to the Upper Paleolithic Period. All these sites have long been closed and protected from private collecting making this offering one of a limited and special opportunities to collectors.
The side scraper is made on a heavy flake and was likely used for robust scraping tasks such as shaving meat from bone or shaving bone, wood or ivory. It is complete with heavy patina and deposits from the rock shelter floor it was originally dug from. This is most evident on the flat back side where heavy deposits are still attached. This tool has intact mineral deposits deep in microscopic micro-crevices, and lacks any modern flaking or crushing, traits only seen in authentic prehistoric stone tools.
No collection of Paleolithic stone tools would be complete without the inclusion of fine examples dating to the Upper Paleolithic Period. This was an era of many of the most famous human development milestones. In this period, the technology developing around the planet took place at slightly different times but globally, humanity was taking a huge turn for the better, and in overall unison. A new level of tool production and craftsmanship emerged unlike ever seen before. Modern humans first arrive on the scene and with them, they bring many new inventions - most notable is the concept of artistic expression as seen in the famous cave paintings that were only produced in this era.
Because the majority of sites that are known to produce Middle and Upper Paleolithic artifacts have been long protected by government regulations and are off-limits to private collecting, the only way to acquire specimens is from old collections that predated these restrictions. As these sites have been off-limits for decades, genuine fine grade Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon human artifacts such as this specimen are most certain to continue to appreciate in value, as time goes on. Paleolithic tools from important sites like this are fast appreciating in value, their sites having been protected and closed to collecting for many decades now.
HISTORY
The famous La Rochette rock shelter site, close to Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere, was first excavated by Otto Hauser in 1910. The studies revealed continual human presence in the form of flint tools and animal remains, from the Mousterian to the Magdalenian cultures. It is famous for the discovery of a Cro-Magnon human fossil in the form of a right ulna that was dated to 23,000 years old, of the Gravettian culture. While many Paleolithic sites in Europe have produced stone tools, the few that produced actual human fossils are rare and at the zenith of scientific importance. La Rochette is one of these important sites!
The Upper Paleolithic was an important dawning of a new age in human history and development. In this period, we find the earliest evidence of organized campsite settlements, some that had storage pits. Human artistic expression blossomed in the form of non-portable art such as cave painting and carved petroglyphs, and portable art such as bone or ivory carvings and engravings. The first evidence of human fishing is also found with the discovery of carved harpoons and hooks. It is likely that warfare amongst people increased as complex social structures emerged with an increasing availability and variety of food, as well as specialized tool types.
