A Young Boy Discovers His Mysterious Glowing Stone is a 60,000-Year-Old Archaeological Marvel, Three Years After Finding It

The stone found on a beach in southern England by a little boy in 2021 was in fact a Neanderthal artifact, dating back more than 60,000 years.

A little boy finds a rare object

While playing on the beach at Shoreham in Sussex, in the south of England, nine-year-old Ben made an incredible discovery, without knowing it. Thinking he had found a glowing stone, it was actually a rare object tens of thousands of years old.

Indeed, he got his hands on a hand ax that dates back to the time of the Neanderthals. A Worthing Museum spokesperson told the BBC the hand ax dates back to the late Middle Palaeolithic, between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago.

He had it at his home for over three years

The rest of the article published by the English media reports more details on this incredible find. The little boy reportedly discovered the hand ax three years ago and kept it in his room all that time. Proof of the child's carelessness, he admitted that during these three years, he “always lost and found” the rare object.

It was only during a visit to the Worthing Museum that he realized that the “shining stone” he found on the beach was not like the others. Indeed, with the Stone Age exhibition, he realized that he had a similar object at home.

The Neanderthal ax is now on display at the museum

The museum, which informed the young boy that it was their best find in ten years, recovered, in agreement with the family, the ax to display it. A source of pride for little Ben who declared that he was really excited at the idea of ​​seeing his discovery in a window.

The mystery of the exact provenance of this ax remains to be determined, given that the object was found on a beach. A place that sometimes leaves room for incredible finds, whether rare objects like this one, or fossils of ancient designers for example.

Source: BBC