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Description: | A polished stone axe head, possibly of granite, dating to the neolithic period. The axe head has a green/grey patina, though at the chopping end it is a rich brown/red colour, possibly as a result of burning. Of particular interest, this artefact appears to have been reused at a later date. The butt end of the axe is missing and there is a very straight break. At this break the axe head has been polished flat and is absolutely smooth. The patina at this break is mid-dark grey in colour, and the difference in colouration suggests a fairly significant time-scale between original deposition and reuse. How and when the object was reused is uncertain, but suggestions range from reuse in the medieval period for grinding pigments for paint, or for polishing purposes at some other historical point. Unfortunately any suggestions must be tentative. The entire body of the axe would once have been polished smooth, a finish achieved by grinding against a sandstone surface. However, much of the surface of the axe is now slightly rough to the touch, a result of post-depositional erosion of the stone. The axe measures 128 mm in length and tapers from 63 mm wide at the break to 29 mm at the chopping end. The axe head is 38.7 mm thick at the break, tapering to 3 mm thick at the blade. Used for felling trees, the axe would originally once have been set within a haft. As the haft would have been of an organic material it is evidently missing. Evidence of hafted polished axes within archaeological contexts is best known from the lake sites of Switzerland, where such artefacts have been discovered within wooden hafts, predominantly of Ash. These hafts were constructed from substantial trees cut at the bottom in order that the top of the root could project back above the axe slot in a curve (Harding and Young 1979, page 102). Furthermore, some of the many axes discovered from the River Thames reveal a light coloured band where the axe was hafted. Such evidence reveals that the haft was invariably fitted off-centre, towards the butt of the axe-head (Adkins and Jackson 1978, page 11). The date of the axe head's original use is between circa 4500 and 2000 BC.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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