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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LOT 0271