Noailles Burin
Working plant material
Gravettian
34 000 to 25 000 years
This tool was first identified in the upper level of Chez Serre, Noailles, in the Corrèze.
B. Schmider, A. Leroi-Gourhan Dictionnaire de la préhistoire. P.U.F, Paris, 1994
Commentary :
The overall development of stone tools, during the Gravettian, reflects the diversification of economic activities.
The Noailles burin has a sharp dihedral end, with a very narrow bevel and a cutting edge whose creation requires a very precise blow. This tiny tool is particularly efficient for working soft plant fibres.
Easily inserted into the hollow flexible stems of wetland plants, such as rushes, it allows them to be chopped and then cut into thin, regular strips.
This preparation is the basis for the weaving of the earliest basketry objects, whose traces are extremely rare, due to the perishable nature of the plant material.