Hand axe from Zwickau
| Place: | Zwickau (Zwickau, Zwickau) |
|---|---|
| Type: | Station/camp/rest area |
| Dating: | Moustérien | 130000 - 40000 before today |
Description
Although many of Saxony's Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites are located in the Leipzig lowlands, the edges of the low mountain ranges are by no means devoid of finds from this period. In 1916, a single flint stone tool, a so-called hand axe blade, from the Middle Palaeolithic period was found in Zwickau, proving the presence of early humans in the foothills of the Ore Mountains as well.
Annemarie ReckFind story
The hand axe blade was found by a French prisoner of war in 1916 in a former steam brickworks on Reichenbacher Straße. Clay was mined in the area of the brickworks at the time. Although the exact location of the find had not been observed, it is said to have been located at a depth of around 1.50 m in the lower part of a Weichselian loess deposit. The find situation therefore only allows a vague geological classification of the find at or before the beginning of the Weichselian Ice Age.
Annemarie ReckImage Source OA 06130, 146, Skizze ©LfA 1973.
Hand wedge
The hand axe blade is made of Baltic flint and has a brownish-olive patina. It has been retouched on both sides, with a finely carved, blunt point. One side is slightly curved, the opposite side is flat. The damage on the left side of the hand axe is the result of recent clay chopping. Due to the uncertainty of the findings, the geologist Rudolf Grahmann suggested in 1939, with reservations, a dating of the find, which at that time was still referred to as a hand axe, to the younger Upper Palaeolithic. Volker Toepfer, on the other hand, compared the piece with finds from a Middle Palaeolithic inventory. It is not possible to date the individual find more precisely on the basis of the shape alone.
Annemarie ReckImage Source V. Geupel 1973, 27, nach R. Grahmann 1939.
Literature
Volkmar Geupel, Das Faustkeilblatt von Zwickau. In: Heinz-Joachim Vogt (Hrsg.), Archäologische Feldforschungen in Sachsen. Arbeits- und Forschungsberichte zur sächsischen Bodendenkmalpflege, Beih. 18 (Berlin 1988) 27–28.
Rudolf Grahmann, Der Faustkeil von Zwickau (Sachsen). Sachsens Vorzeit 3, 1940, 5.
Dietrich Mania/Volker Toepfer, Königsaue. Gliederung, Ökologie und mittelpaläolithische Funde der letzten Eiszeit. Veröffentlichungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 26 (Berlin 1973).
Note on monument protection
Archaeological monuments are protected by the Saxon Monument Protection Act. A permit under monument law is required for ground interventions or construction measures.
Permalink
https://archaeo-sn.de/en/ort/hand-axe-from-zwickau/
Citation
Annemarie Reck, Hand axe from Zwickau. In: Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen, Website archaeo | SN (01.02.2024). https://archaeo-sn.de/en/ort/hand-axe-from-zwickau/ (Stand: 14.08.2026)
