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LOT 0325
Stone Age 'Swanscombe' Classic Pointed Flint Handaxe
PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 425,000-362,000 B.P.
3 1/2 in. (121 grams, 88 mm).
Classic pointed handaxe from the type-site at Swanscombe, Kent; mainly hard hammer struck with two small areas of cortex remaining near the butt.
ProvenanceFound Swanscombe, Kent, UK.
From a private Norfolk, UK, collection.
From the collection of a South West London, UK, specialist Stone Age collector.
The middle gravels from which this axe most likely came date to the Hoxnian Interglacial period at MIS 11 (425-362 B.C.) and are associated with the only known hominin remains from the Hoxnian which had features of both Neanderthal and modern humans. (Wymer 1999, p.77.)
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Stone Age Flint Tools and Reproduction North American Spearhead Group
Neolithic Period, circa 4th millennium B.C.-20th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Mixed group comprising several flint scrapers, a large reproduction lanceolate lentoid-section spearhead with lateral barbs to the tang, and other reproductions. 626 grams total, 3.4-25.5 cm
Ex London, UK, collection, 1990s. -
Massive European Stone Age Flint Axehead
Neolithic Period, circa 4000-2000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £715
Substantial cleaver pre-form with rounded butt. 22 grams, 24.5 cm
Found continental Europe. Ex Victor Brox collection, UK, formed during the 1980s-1990s. From the collection of a South West London, UK, specialist Stone Age collector.
Preforms such as this unusually large and undamaged example were widely traded during Neolithic times and were a valuable commodity in communities which lacked suitable material for stone tool production. There has been research showing signs of wear from rubbing against cloth, suggesting that they might have been carried over long distances. -
Stone Age Knapped Flint Handaxe
Lower Palaeolithic Period, 480,000-250,000 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £234
Irregular ovate cleaver with broad cutting edge, chipped through usage; amber-coloured patination. 209 grams, 11.1 cm
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, as well as an Honorary Member of the Geological Club of Ile-de-France. This collection of flints was assembled between the 1950s and 1990s and originates from Ile-de-France, Oise, and Val-d'Oise.
