ATi15
Upper Acheulean from Erg Tiodaine, Algeria. An
almond-shaped biface handaxe fashioned on a quartzite flake. The interior side is only facially and
laterally worked at the proximal point to remove the bulb of the blank. The other side is entirely facially
worked. The edges and the butt are
worked with refinishing touches. The
long edges are very straight. One side
of the axe shows some desert patina and wind polish. The color of the raw material has changed
from gray-brown to bright gray (as is evinced at the edges of the piece). The other side has its original color
(gray-brown) and little wind polish.
Flake scars are well defined on both sides and the edges are still quite
sharp. Edges show traces of the
sedimentary matrix from the paleo-lake bed in which the axe was found. Length 18 cm.
Ex Josef Halm (Germany) Collection.
The site
is known for the variety of raw materials employed in tool manufacturing—even
more so than Amguid. The southern
Algerian site was first identified by a French Foreign Legionnaire and is
called Station du Sargent Bianchi.
Objects come from the sediments of the paleo-lake. G. Camps, Les
Civilizations Prehistorique d’Afrique du Nord et du Sahara, 1974.
A really nicely fashioned piece on a flake with desert varnish on one face, and more sharply preserved flaking on the face that was buried in the playa. Remains of the playa sediments at the lateral edges.
Please ask if questions.