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Description: | Stone battleaxe, greenstone (dolerite) perforated waisted battle axe, lozenge-shaped in plan, sub-rectangular in profile and oval in section, with faceted butt end, expanded blade and incised linear grooves emphasising the concave profile of the upper and lower faces of the axe. "Incised grooves, that is grooves about 1 mm wide and deep with sharply defined edges, are made by cutting the artefact surface repeatedly with sharp flakes of a hard material such as quartzite. This technique is quite different from those employed to shape and finish battle-axes, namely pecking and grinding" (Fenton in Clough & Cummins, 1988, p.113). The shafthole is circular in plan and cylindrical in profile and is 24 mm in diameter and 37 mm in height.The axe is made of a weathered altered dolerite and the ornamental grooving has been rather crudely applied, perhaps as an afterthought, or by accident where the tool may have slipped and the line carries off at an angle. The polishing and linear striations within the shafthole are distinctive and suggest that the axe was not permanently mounted on to a shaft, but continuously placed on and off (Roger Taylor pers comm), perhaps for ritual purposes.Roe in PPS 32 (1966) classifies this type of battle axe into Stage IV, and illustrates a similar example from Lauder in Berwickshire, Scotland, with the same plan, profile and single groove, on page 209, Fig.6b, No.377, which is referred to as an 'intermediate' battle axe and part of the Codford St Peter group with a shaped and angular butt type D. These axes are found in associated with Food Vessels and Wessex I culture, which is dated to c.2000-1650 BC.Roe in Clough & Cummins (1979) illustrates a similar intermediate battle axe from Cookham, Berkshire on page 25, Fig.2, No.1400 Berk 52, but refers to Yorkshire as the 'cultural centre for battle axes' on page 26.Fenton in Clough & Cummins (1988) illustrates a similar battle-axe from Perth on page 122, Fig.31, PER 33, which is referred to as an 'intermediate-developed' battle axe with incised grooves. This type of battle-axe is found mainly in southern Scotland and northern Britain.Coope, Robinson & Roe in Clough & Cummins (1988) illustrate a similar battle-axe, in plan and profile, but not incised, from Oakenrod, Rochdale on page 61, Fig.7, La 109.
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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