c.400,000 B.C. A nice Early Paleolithic Clactonian "Mode 1" Split Pebble flint end scraper tool found in Northfleet, bordering the very famous Stone Age site of Swanscombe, Kent and from a old Suffolk collection. A flint river pebble has been split and then struck to produces a defined blade edge, this has then been reworked to further enhance the blade edge. The tool would most likely have been used for scraping animal hides. [The Clactonian culture derives it name from a collection of prehistoric material originally found on a site close to Clacton-On-Sea in Essex, England. At the famous site of Swanscombe, Kent, the deposit known as the Lower Gravels contained large amounts of distinctive Clactonian style tools, suggesting that a Clactonian tribe had established a riverside campsite in the area over 400,000 years ago. The Clactonian tribe made distinctive tools from flint pebbles and flakes struck from larger nodules. Some of these tools were quite crude, just simple worked pebbles, but others show a higher standard of craftsmanship, particularly flint cores worked to a rough edge for use as choppers or chopping tools]. Nicely fashioned from an attractive deep toffee coloured flint with a distinct and well defined functional edge. Old inked collection number and find location on top edge of worked face. Good colouration and surface ageing, a very pleasant early stone age tool, 87mm long x 54mm wide x 25mm thick.
