Tool Fragment
Unknown Artist
ca. 90,000–5,000 B.C.
Medium
Flint
Dimensions
h. 5.6 x w. 4.7 x th. 1 cm (2 3/16 x 1 7/8 x 3/8 in.)
Classification
Tool
Period
Paleolithic to Neolithic
Department
Egyptian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1925
Accession Number
25.10.12h
About this artwork
This flint tool fragment represents prehistoric human activity in Egypt's Western Desert spanning from the Paleolithic through Neolithic periods (approximately 90,000 to 5,000 BC). Discovered in the Kharga Oasis, one of Egypt's major Western Desert oases, the fragment documents tens of thousands of years of human adaptation to challenging environments. During wetter climatic periods, the Western Desert supported hunting and gathering populations who manufactured stone tools for butchering game, ...