These pieces date back to the Solutrean (-18.000 years ago) and definitely are a challenge for any flintknapper due to their subtlety and fragility.

The most beautiful ones were found in an hideway in Volgu (France).

Getting close or even to their perfection is a holy grail many flintknappers strive, in vain, to reach.

Making of laurel leaves

A large spall or a large flint tablet is thinned, with the help of thouroughly controlled percussion flaking with antler billets.

The final stage, the thinning is the most dangerous part since large flakes have to be driven off both faces, but any mistake in the percussion, be it strength or angle, the preparation of the platform, or even the way the laurel leaf is held, any mistake will lead to an immediate breakage, ruining it all !

Size of laurel leaves vary from 3 cm to over 35 being more beutiful as they are more symmetrical and fine. It take a master knapper to thin both faces without making any surface mistake, such as step fractures.

Even if they look like, and could be used as knife blades, the use of laurel leaves is still a mistery: the analysis of their edges hasn't shown any trace of usage...