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Origin and history

Ferrière-Larçon's polishing machine is a neolithic tool carved in a flint bench, discovered around 1865 by Mr.Dauxerre in the town of Ferrière-Larçon, in Indre-et-Loire. Measuring about 45 × 35 cm for a weight of 79 kg, it has grooves oriented differently on both sides, traces of its use to sharpen or polish objects. Ranked a historic monument in 1889, it was originally exhibited in a village house before being transferred to the Musée de la Préhistoire du Grand-Pressigny, then to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

According to the sources of the 19th and 20th centuries, this polisher illustrates the artisanal practices of Neolithic in Touraine, a region rich in flint exploited for the manufacture of tools. The descriptions of Gérard Cordier and Robert Ranjard underline its archaeological importance, while the archives mention its progressive displacement: first communal property, it was given to the Museum of Man in 1953 by the heirs of his discoverer. Today, inventoried under the number MNHN-HP-53-6.1, there remains a material testimony of prehistoric know-how.

The reported dimensions vary according to the sources: 45 × 35 cm (Wikipedia) or 69 × 41 cm with a thickness of 10 to 14 cm (Monumentum). This discrepancy could be explained by measures including or not the original medium. The polisher, ranked among the first historical monuments of France in 1889, reflects the early interest in the megalithic heritage, while the Touraine was a home of archaeological research, as evidenced by the work of Louis Dubreuil-Chambardel in 1923.

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