Kombewa Flake
Cutting meat
Middle Palaeolithic
Around 100 000 years
Commentary :
During Middle Palaeolithic, some 100 000 years ago, a flintknapping method appears amongst Neanderthal, that made it possible to obtain a single, very characteristic, razor-sharp flake with ease.
The resulting Kombewa flakes have the advantage of being directly functional without modification.
This tool, which is always oval in shape, is ideal for defleshing,this consists of precisely separating the remnants of fatty and muscle tissue, adhering to the skin in order to prepare it for drying and softening.
The Kombewa method is one of the original technical traditions of Neanderthal groups. It allows preferential flakes with expected shapes to be obtained, and therefore illustrates the dynamic nature and adaptive potential of Mousterian industries, in Europe.