Objekt 2101
Mammoth and Neanderthals
Description
Around 100,000 years ago the local environment was similar to today’s Alaska.
A thick layer of ice covered vast parts of Europe, though not the region
around Basel. Various types of grasses and the occasional tree grew in a tundra,
providing food for herbivores. Mammoths, deer, reindeer and antelopes
roamed the area – easy prey for Stone Age hunters. The Neanderthals
hunted these animals and left their traces in the form of stone tools and
debris from hunting. They used tools like this hand axe to skin the animals
and chop up their bones.
Object description
Hand axe
site: Bettingen BS, c. 58000–38000 BC
silex (flintstone)
on loan from Archäologische Bodenforschung Basel-Stadt
Inv. 1991/46.52.