File:Sandstone axe (plan) (FindID 386965).jpg

English: Polished sandstone axehead, tear-shaped in plan and lozenge-shaped in profile and section, with a symmetrical blade end and gashes to the surface which have since been iron-stained on one side, to a bright orange colour. The sandstone is quite porous and the stain has penetrated from a joint. The overall buff colour of the axe results from weathering and suggests that the rock has come from a near-surface source (Roger Taylor pers comm).

As Madron is on the Land's End Granite the most likely source for the sandstone is from the cliffs of St Ives Bay around the mouth of the Hayle River, or further north between Gwithian and Godrevy (Devonian, Gramscatho Formation, but now known as the Portscatho Formation). It seems odd that weathered material was used when fresh wave-worn rock would have been available either in situ or as beach cobbles (Roger Taylor pers comm). And sandstone would not have been hard enough to use for an axe, compared to the igneous rocks available as alternative sources, so perhaps it was chosen for its aesthetic nature, pale and polished, and more symbolic than functional."The weathered rock would have been easier to work and finish but less durable in use. Possibly this axe was for ceremonial purposes, hence the colour, or perhaps an axe-making apprentice piece" (Roger Taylor pers comm). Smith in Mercer (1981) lists two examples of sandstone axes from Carn Brea on page 159, Nos.CO 172 & CO 301, which are dated to the Neolithic period.