SOLUTREAN LAUREL-LEAF POINT
Le RUTH SITE
SOUTHWESTERN FRANCE

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION

   This bifacial point was found several years ago

in a rock shelter called Le Ruth on the Vezere

River in southwestern France. It dates to somewhere
between 22,000 to 18,000 years ago. The Solutrean

stone tool assemblage is most famous for the

first truly thin bifaces made by highly skilled
flintknappers. Their flintknapping tool kit would

have been fully developed by this time. It would

have been equipped with hard and soft percussion
flaking tools to drive off larger reduction flakes

and smaller pressure flaking tools for removing

the smaller last stage finishing flakes and resharpening
flakes. This Laurel Leaf point was probably used

as a knife. It measures 5 13/16 inches (14.8cm) long.

Solutrean Laurel Leaf point.

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