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Home > Auctions > Starting 2nd December 2025 > French Stone Age 'Neanderthal' Handaxe with Fossil Echinoid

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LOT 0271

Estimate
GBP (£) 800 - 1,000
EUR (€) 930 - 1,160
USD ($) 1,070 - 1,340

Opening Bid
£444 (EUR 514; USD 595) (+bp*)

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Bids: 0
FRENCH STONE AGE 'NEANDERTHAL' HANDAXE WITH FOSSIL ECHINOID
MIDDLE PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 300,000-150,000 B.P.
4 3/4 in. (6 1/4 in.) (458 grams, 12.1 cm (516 grams total, 16 cm including stand)).

Triangular in profile and biconvex in section with some cortex and embedded fossil to one face; mounted on a custom-made stand.

PROVENANCE:
Found Dordogne, France.
From the collection of Jean-Claude Debenne (1936-2020), an amateur prehistorian and former member of the French Society of Prehistory and the Prehistoric Association of the South-West; also a Honorary Member of the Geological Club of Ile-de-France; his collection of flints formed between the 1950s and 1990s, and coming from Ile-de-France, Oise, Val-d’Oise and the Dordogne.

FOOTNOTES:
An extremely rare artefact due to the fossil Echinoid being retained on the front of the handaxe and utilised during its creation. Dual silky patina from being sat within nutrient-rich soil, which contrasts against the remaining golden orange cortex. Attributed to Neanderthal - Mousterian in the form of the Acheulean (MTA).

CONDITION
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