SEVEN LARGE FLINT BLADE CORES (MOTTE DE BEURRE) 

PALAEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 8500-4500 B.C. 
 

Lengths 15 cm. – 30 cm. 
 

PROVENANCE 

Found in France in the Loire Valley at Abilly (two inscribed in black ink Delahaye) 

English private collection, 1970s-2003 

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COMMENT 

The term ‘motte de beurre’ derives from the distinctive yellow-brown colour of the flint blade cores from which large daggers, knives and spears were fashioned. Major flint mines were located in Le Grand-Pressigny and the surrounding areas of the Loire region during the Neolithic period. Flints cores such as these would have been exported across Europe as currency. 

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£9,500