POLISHED AXEHEAD

Variegated buff to grey stone polished axe fragment. The front part and cutting edge from a polished stone axe; possibly of Group 6 from Langdale, Cumbria, though Group 6 axes are more frequently a grey-green colour. The object is finely finished with a still-sharp cutting edge. A dished zone adjacent to the edge may represent either damage in antiquity or a slight irregularity of the stone noted before the axe was completed, and has been smoothed by polishing. The axe has broken at the end of the cutting edge, where it was weakened by internal holes and flaws within the stone. It is possible that the selection of this particular stone for its attractively variegated marbling carried with it the risk of internal weakness.

The use of polished stone axes has been subject to recurrent reinterpretation. As tools for tree-felling and clearance for agriculture, they represent a more labour-intensive approach than other methods. The exotic provenance of the stone, won from inaccessible rock faces, and its striking appearance when polished, may both have conferred the cachet of a symbol of power. Langdale axes were extensively traded, and indeed are more numerous finds around the Humber region than anywhere else save for the vicinity of their production site. Such an axe would make an effective personal weapon when hafted, a function overlaid by implications of status in many periods. In this case, its striking appearance appears to have outweighed its durability. Suggested date: Early Neolithic, 4000-3500 BC.

Length: 53.2mm, Width: 64mm, Thickness: 22.5mm, Weight: 98.92gms.