Flint Hand Axe

Lower Palaeolithic, c.700,000 - 300,000 BC

Black-brown flint with a lustrous gloss patina.

Length: 13.7 cm

Provenance

Oise, Northern France (by repute)

Collection of Jean-Claude Debenne (1936-2020)

Exported under CBC 242804

Published

ArtAncient, Before Art, Frieze Masters, 2023, No. 21.

A remarkably fine and perfectly preserved example of the earliest human technology, knapped from a nodule of black-brown flint.

Dull when freshly knapped, flint can acquire an intense lustre over countless years of silica precipitation. Here, the glass-like surface and deep, black-purple patina is the result of silica precipitation from groundwater into tiny pores within the stone. An accidental embellishment, highlighting not just the hue of the flint, but the skilful knapping of its anonymous maker.

SOLD