Type: Blade Core
Location: Olendon, France
Age: Middle Holocene
Material: Flint
MoST ID: 2017
Pedestal Link: https://une.pedestal3d.com/r/EHOXbkpsu7
Model Author: Michael Curry
This flint indirect percussion blade core is from Olendon in Normandy, France. The core is made from Cinglais flint from the extensive quarries discovered near Espins, about 20 km to the northwest of Olendon. The core dates to the Danubian Neolithic period, ca. 6750-7000 BP.
The indirect percussion technique was extensively used in Neolithic Europe to make blades, which were used as knives or as blanks for other types of tools. Indirect percussion involves placing a punch on the platform edge of the core and detaching the blades by striking the end of the punch. By using a punch, the flintknapper can precisely manipulate the placement and angle of the blow that initiates fracture. The indirect percussion technique may have been used to make blades during the Upper Palaeolithic period in Europe; however, differentiating indirect percussion blades from soft-hammer direct percussion blades can be difficult because both techniques can result in blades with diffuse bulbs and shallow platforms. The indirect percussion technique for blade-making is well-documented int Mesolithic period, ca. 11,000 BP, with the discovery of punches made from red deer antler. Indirect percussion blade-making was used throughout the Neolithic and into the Bronze Ages.