New results for the biface from Säckingen, ‘Flühwäldchen’, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

A peculiar stone with the shape of a heart caught the attention of a young girl in 1916. Her father put it on display together with other fossils they had collected. Only after the collection was offered to the local museum in the early 1920s, was the piece recognized as a paleolithic biface. From the beginning however, doubts were raised as to the source of the raw material used and as to the unstratified position on a ‘Lower Terrace’ of the High Rhine River. A new analysis of the raw material reveals that it is a silcrete which can be traced to local sources in the Buntsandstein. A microwear analysis of the preserved edge reveals a specific stepped retouch and traces which provide evidence that indicate what the biface was potentially used for. According to the morphotype and size the cordiform biface is attributed to the ‘Upper/Final Acheulean’. A scenario of the quaternary environment on the promontory northwest of Bad Säckingen is presented. So, Neandertals were attracted to the area, with skills to knap an exceptional cordiform biface from a raw material outcropping in the region close by.