NP COLLECTABLES

 

 

This is an Aterian semi-translucent chert Tanged end scraper (Pedunculate) 85,000 to 40,000 B.C. from Grotte des Pigeons in Taforalt, Morocco. The tang would have been inserted into a split handle or shaft material, like wood or bone, and then bound in position with cord, or with a binding agent which would have harden to form a permanent bond. The artefact displays Paleo layer desert patina and measures 46mm x 34mm.

The Aterian, Middle Palaeolithic is the name given to a distinctive stone tool industry made by anatomically modern humans between about 80,000 and 40,000 years ago. The tools are found on sites in northern Africa between the Atlantic coast to the Kharga Oasis and the western edge of the Nile river basin.

The manufacturing process for these tools is derived from the earlier "Mousterian" methods for working stone, using prepared and shaped cores from which were struck off large flakes which were then often unifacially trimmed into the desired tool shapes. They continued with the same basic stone working processes, but with a major conceptual difference. The "Aterian" style tools are the first to have clearly been designed and manufactured to be mounted on handles, with the projectile points and the scrapers having distinctive prepared "tangs" at the base of the tool or projectile point. Ref: Canton-Thompson, G., "The Aterian Industry: Its Place and Significance In The Paleolithic World," 1946, The Huxley Memorial Lecture for 1946, p.89.

Price: £26.00




 
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Aterian Tanged Point 85,000 to 40,000 B.C. NP Collectables
NAN152 Aterian Tanged End Scraper 85,000 to 40,000 B.C.
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