- Mousterian Flints
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- Grand Pressigny Mousterian Lithic 031
Grand Pressigny Mousterian Lithic 031
Homo neanderthalensis artefacts - Mousterian (Levallosian) from Le Grand Pressigny Southern Touraine region of the Loire Valley
Scraper
See pic for scale
Mousterian is the name given by Archaeologists to the industry of flint production by the Homo neanderthalensis people. They are predominantly middle Palaeolithic in age, the middle part of the old stone age, so range from 80,000 to 40,000 years old. A rock shelter called Le Moustier in the region is the inspiration for the name. These artefacts are known to be much more smaller and specialised that the more bulkier ones found elsewhere, suggesting Neanderthals were highly intelligent in their tool making and thought carefully when working to maximise the number of tools they could create from a single chert core.