By Michael Allen Hoffman

   Fish Tail bifaces are well known from Predynastic tombs and have occasionally been uncovered in settlement sites at Hierakonpolis. They are shaped like elongated triangles with deeply concave bases, are thin finely retouched objects and many of the earlier specimens display minute denticulation.
   Originally thought to be spear points, discovery of a hafted specimen showed that the concave end faced outward while the pointed end was embedded in the handle. It is now believed that Fish Tails were used in the religious rite of symbolically opening the mouth of the dead just prior to burial so that the deceased's soul could receive sustenance in the tomb. A Fifth Dynasty papyrus (ca. 2400 B.C.) from Abusir refers to similar objects by the Old Egyptian term "Peshish Kef."
   This Fish Tail biface represents a product made by a highly skilled craftsman. It was made at a time when stone tool making in Egypt had reached a golden age of flintknapping.  This example has a U shaped base and is probably an earlier style (A.J. Arkell 1975 p.46). It measures 4 1/2 inches (11.4cm) long, 2 15/16 inches (7.5cm) wide and 3/16 of an inch (5mm) thick.

CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGE
PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL #N-4 FISH TAIL BIFACE
PREDYNASTIC EGYPT
LEN & JANIE WIEDNER COLLECTION
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FISH TAIL BIFACES