Blade dagger
Technical or prestige object
Grand Pressigny type, Southern Touraine
Final Neolithic
Around 2400 BC
Commentary :
The flint blades from Le Grand-Pressigny have a standardized, regular form. Remarkably long, this pieces measure between 25 to 40 centimetres. These blades were produced in large quantities by true specialists during the last centuries of the Neolithic.
Most of these blades were used as sickles, which were repeatedly resharpened until they were abandoned or broken. Others were carefully retouched to produce daggers. These blades bore a high exchange and prestige value and were sometimes hoarded in caches or placed in burials, as it was common across Neolithic Europe. People came directly from neighbouring villages to acquire the blades from knappers for personal use or to redistribute them across the region. However, some specialist knappers probably peddled the blades themselves over long distances. This activity was in large demand in Europe, where polished axes, salt and textiles were already widely circulated.
Around 2,400 BC, the long flint blades of Grand-Pressigny went out of style. They were soon replaced by their competitors, copper and then bronze daggers.