Stone Age Scraping Tool

Belgium, Henegouwen Mousterian Neanderthal Culture

  (70,000 BC)

The following Neanderthal Stone tool was probably used for scraping, perhaps for cutting and preparing animal skins. It's known as a Quina type scraper. Exactly 5 centimeters in length, it fits very comfortably into the thumb and first 2 fingers. The left image shows the smooth surface side that opposes the thumb. The right image shows a 3 faced tapered surface that has an apex that fits into the recess between the two fingers. The narrow dark shaded facet on the far right is a tapered blade like edge.

References

http://www.aerobiologicalengineering.com/wxk116/StoneAge/Handaxes/