Hand ax from Rhede

The Rhede hand ax comes from the Middle Paleolithic and was dated to around 80,000 years ago. It measures 14.0 cm, according to other information 14.5 cm, is 94 mm wide and 38 mm high. The device, which weighs only 240 g, was discovered in 1982 near Rhede in the Borken district .

This hand ax is very unusual in that it was made from mammoth bones , probably obtained from a thigh bone . The dorsal side shows remnants of the natural surface of the bone and a flat retouching . The ventral side is only retouched at the edges and otherwise covered by the cancellous bone , the spongy tissue from the inside of the bone. Both basal and terminal ends are diluted.

literature

• Gernot Tromnau: A mammoth bone hand ax from Rhede , in: Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 13 (1983) 287–289.

Web links

• Middle Paleolithic hand ax from Rhede / Borken district , Internet portal "Westphalian history"
• Photography , fiber optic archeology for Westphalia
• Hand ax made from mammoth bones , LWL Museum for Archeology, Herne