Prismatic blade
Gallery Location
Galleries of Africa: Egypt
Medium
flaked obsidian; intact
Geography
al-Fayyūm, Egypt
Date
c. 5300-3000 BCE
Period
Predynastic Period
Dimensions
3.9 × 1.0 × 0.6 cm
Object number
909.96.85
Cataloguer
Gayle Gibson
ROM Staff, 1990-2015; ROM Volunteer 2015-Present
Collection
Department
Art & Culture: Ancient Egypt & Nubia
Object History
Acquired by C.T. Currelly, W.H. Seton-Karr Collection.
Description
Intact obsidian flake. Such flakes were multi-functional; they could be sharpened to cut hides or flesh.
Obsidian was such a useful material that it was traded over long networks from farther south in Africa, and possibly from the Aegean and and West Asia.
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