This large retouched chert macroblade is from the Tilemsi region of eastern Mali.  Retouched macroblades are occasionally found on Tilemsi sites dating to ca. 4500-7500 BP, during the Sahara-Sudanese Neolithic period.  They occur alongside a variety of blade-based and bifacial arrowheads, including stemmed Tilemsi Points.  Their large size suggests that they were spear points or hafted knives.

 

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This tool was made on a large blade, with the distal end retouched by steep unifacial percussion flaking.  The platform and part of the bulb of percussion was removed by bifacial percussion flaking.  Some archaeologists have suggested that there were specialist flintknappers making tools like these in the Tilemsi region.