Forbidden Archeology_ The Full Unabridged Edition - Michael A. Cremo [195]
Figure 4.33. A racloir from below the Late Oligocene sands at Boncelles, Belgium. Rutot (1907, p. 460) observed it looked very much like a Mousterian point from the Late Pleistocene of Europe.
Rutot also described a special category of tools, which he called mixed implements (Figure 4.34), because they looked as if they could have been employed in more than one fashion. Rutot (1907, p. 460) stated: “They tend to have on the sharp edge a point formed by the intersection of two straight edges, or more frequently, two notches, made by retouching. These implements might be said to resemble awls, but in general the point is too short or rounded. In fact, although the notches are the result of deliberate flaking and retouching, the point seems to be merely the incidental byproduct of the intersection of the two notches.”
Rutot (1907, p. 460) went on to say: “This type of implement, of quite singular form, is quite abundant in the old Eolithic period, very rare in the Paleolithic, and again quite abundant in the Neolithic, particularly in the Flensian assemblages. Good examples also appear among the tools of the modern Tasmanians.”
The next type of implement discussed by Rutot was the grattoir, another broad category of scraper. According to Rutot (1907, p. 462), the grattoir differed from the racloir in that “its working edge is employed longitudinally in relation to the direction of the force of application, whereas the racloir is held between the thumb and forefinger in such a manner to set the working edge transverse to the direction of the force. When being used, the working edges of the racloir and the grattoir are thus situated perpendicular to each other.” Rutot observed that in order to help the user direct and push the cutting edge of the grattoir, these implements in many cases had special notches to accommodate the thumb and forefinger (Figure 4.35b), this in addition to the usual removal of sharp edges to facilitate gripping. At the Boncelles site in Belgium, from strata dated to the Oligocene, there were unearthed a variety of grattoirs (Figure 4.35), including the especially large specimen shown in Figure 4.36.
Figure 4.34. This pointed flint implement was discovered in a stratigraphic position below the Late Oligocene sands at Boncelles, Belgium (Rutot 1907, p. 461). The ventral surface (right) of this tool shows a well-developed bulb of percussion with an eraillure. According to Rutot, this type of implement is common in Neolithic and modern assemblages.
Figure 4.35. End scrapers (grattoirs) from below the Late Oligocene sands at Boncelles, Belgium: (a) two views of a grattoir, the ventral surface of which (right) shows a bulb of percussion; (b) grattoir with curved indentations for gripping; (c) two views of a double grattoir, with the chipping on each of the two working edges confined to one side of the flake; (d) grattoir with finely retouched working edge (Rutot 1907, pp. 462– 464).
Figure 4.36. Large end scraper (grattoir) from below the Late Oligocene sands at Boncelles, Belgium (Rutot 1907, p. 463).
Rutot (1907, pp. 462, 464) noted: “In the case of grattoirs as well as racloirs, there are some that bear very well marked bulbs of percussion. I do not, however, consider these flakes to have been intentionally made for use as implements. I believe that the flakes with the bulb of percussion were detached involuntarily from the edges of anvils while they were being struck by hammer stones. These detached flakes were usable as tools just as were the sharp natural flakes found nearby. And they were in fact used like them, but they were not deliberately struck for this purpose.”
It is difficult, however, to comprehend how Rutot could tell what was going through the minds of his ancient toolmakers as they struck flakes and worked them into