File:Neolithic, Polished stone axehead (FindID 810402).jpg

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Summary

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Neolithic: Polished stone axehead
Photographer
Birmingham Museums Trust, Peter Reavill, 2016-10-20 16:58:07
Title
Neolithic: Polished stone axehead
Description
English: A near complete ground and polished axehead formed of a very fine grained siliceous stone - probably a chert from the Cretaceous upper greensand horizon - of probable later Neolithic date (3000-2000 BC). The axe is knapped from a light grey / cream coloured chert with a milky white coloured surface patina. There is considerable mid orange staining across the reworked surface and this is possibly as a result in the burial environment - possibly indicating deposition within soils that are iron rich or have a predilection towards iron panning / waterlogging. The matrix of the stone is uneven with large uneven inclusions. The axe is broadly sub-rectangular / wedge shaped in plan and sub-oval (humped) in cross section. In plan the sides of the axe taper from the widest point (a point behind the cutting edge) to a broken and damaged butt. The side facets are preserved along the edge but are lost near the cutting edge due to considerable regrinding and wear through use. The cutting edge is complete but the lower edge at the cutting edge is heavily worn and is a distinctive shape. The upper edge has an oval shaped 'pot-lid' like scar where a heavy blow - or possible a thermal fracture - has removed an irregular shape which has no conchoidal ripples. The damage to the butt is likely to be due to movement in the ploughsoil as many of the flakes terminate in hinge fractures. The polished surface is extant across much of the surface under magnification distinctive fine grinding / polishing lines - scratches can be seen.

The axe measures 92.2mm length, 61.5mm width (at cutting edge), 38.9mm wide at butt; it is 27.1mm thick at the midpoint. It weighs 181 grams.

Axes are more than just a functional tool within Neolithic society; they would have had various other functions and shown the wealth, power and importance of their owner. It is likely they were passed down through families and generations and were often deposited in special, meaningful and significant ways. The use of greensand chert is unusual, however, a seam of it is present and exposed in a line from the Yorkshire Wolds in the north east to Devon in the south west.

Thanks are extended to Kate Andrews and Daniel Lockett (Geologists) for their help in identifying the stone.
Depicted place (County of findspot) Shropshire
Date between 3500 BC and 2500 BC
Accession number
FindID: 810402
Old ref: HESH-8DB2C5
Filename: HESH8DB2C5_detail6.jpg
Credit line
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk
Source https://finds.org.uk/database/ajax/download/id/587318
Catalog: https://finds.org.uk/database/images/image/id/587318/recordtype/artefacts archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Artefact: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/810402
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(Reusing this file)		 Attribution License

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This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Attribution: Birmingham Museums Trust
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current19:00, 20 December 2018Thumbnail for version as of 19:00, 20 December 20183,543 × 1,975 (2.58 MB)Fæ (talk | contribs)Portable Antiquities Scheme, HESH, FindID: 810402, neolithic, page 3008, batch count 9962

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