Rights Holder: York Museums Trust
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Unique ID: YORYM-543D87
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
An incomplete stone axehead of Neolithic date. The axehead is triangular in plan and oval in section with extensive damage along one edge. Both faces are largely smooth and polished however both have numerous chipped and broken areas. The cutting edge of the axe remains largely in tact and is still fairly sharp.
The axe is comprised of a grey-green fine-grained siliceous tuff - a sedimentary volcanic rock possibly from the Great Langdale quarries in Cumbria. This stone was most probably chosen for its colour and fineness which allowed it to be highly polished. It is likely that axes such as this were high status and probably not functional. If functional however the axe would have been hafted to an organic handle or haft. The haft no longer remains.
The axe fragment is 74.4mm long, 40.8mm wide, 19.2mm thick and weighs 70g.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
Period from: NEOLITHIC
Date from: Circa 3500 BC
Date to: Circa 2100 BC
Quantity: 1
Length: 74.4 mm
Width: 40.8 mm
Thickness: 19.2 mm
Weight: 70 g
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Primary material: Stone
Manufacture method: Ground/polished
Completeness: Incomplete
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
No references cited so far.