Acheulean Quartzite Spheroid
Lower Paleolithic (approx. 500,000-300,000 years ago), Vailly-sur-Aisne, France
No reserve
Auction Closed
July 14, 07:13 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Acheulean Quartzite Spheroid
Produced by Homo heidelbergensis
Lower Paleolithic (approx. 500,000-300,000 years ago)
Vailly-sur-Aisne, France
3½ x 3¼ x 2⅞ inches (8.9 x 8.3 x 7.3 cm), 6¾ inches (17.1 cm) on stand.
A rounded quartzite spheroid featuring dense pitting and wear from repeated impact, consistent with prolonged use as a striking tool. The stone retains a mottled range of warm brown and ochre tones across its heavily worked surface.
Included in the lot is a copy of Tony Berlant and Thomas Wynn's First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone (Nasher Sculpture Center, 2018), where the present piece is illustrated.
Formerly in the collection of artist Tony Berlant (b. 1941).
With EU license 2025DMF0222 permitting export, issued by the French Ministry of Culture
First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone. 27 January - 29 April 2018. Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas.
The Origins of Sculpture. 27 September 2023 - 7 January 2024. Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece.
Berlant, Tony, and Thomas Wynn. First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone. Nasher Sculpture Center, 2018, Cat. 4a.
Galanidou, Nena, et al., editors. The Origins of Sculpture: Archaeological Finds from the Old World and Lesbos 2.5 Million to 50,000 Years Before Present. University of Crete/Benaki Museum, 2023, Cat. 3a.
A PALEOLITHIC QUARTZITE SPHEROID BEARING ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACHEULEAN HAMMERSTONE
Heavily worked, spherical stones are a common find among Acheulean excavation sites, a fact that points to both the enduring attraction of symmetrical objects among early humans, and to their common use as "hammerstones" with which to form and shape tools such as hand axes.
This spheroid bears all the hallmarks of a hammerstone, a rounded cobble used as a striking tool to shape other stones into implements. Its pitted surfaces bear evidence of repeated impact, likely marking it as one of the earliest instruments of human toolmaking.
The present example is notable for its remarkably compact, near-spherical form and for the clear evidence of sustained use across its surface. Repeated blows have left the stone densely pitted and worn, preserving a direct record of the physical actions involved in early tool production.
Unlike more formally worked objects, hammerstones were typically selected rather than shaped, their suitability determined by weight, balance, and durability. In this case, the natural form of the quartzite nodule provided an ideal working tool, its rounded mass lending itself to repeated handling and impact.
Its inclusion in both the Nasher Sculpture Center’s landmark exhibition First Sculpture: Handaxe to Figure Stone and the Benaki Museum’s The Origins of Sculpture places it within a broader consideration of the earliest forms of human making. Simple yet essential, the hammerstone stands at the very beginning of the chain of toolmaking among early humans.