PERFORATED OBJECT

A Mesolithic or Neolithic perforated pebble hammer, probably dating to 9,000-2,400 BC. The object is ovate in plan, profile and cross section, with its thickest point at the perforation; the latter is centrally placed and drilled from both faces with convex sides. The pebble exhibits battering damage at either narrow end, although it is more significant at one than the other. The stone is of a purplish-red and is probably a quartzite.

Length 113.1mm; width 82.1mm; thickness 29.1mm; weight >300g. Diameter of perforation 26.9mm tapering to c.16mm.

Comparable perforated pebble tools are published by Evans (1872: 204, nos. 155 and 156). Roe (1979: 39) illustrates further comparable examples, and highlights the difficulty in dating these objects; though associated with the Mesolithic, the type also seems to outlast the period, with examples found in possible association with Bronze Age features at Windmill hill and East Ayton (amongst others) and some potentially even later (ibid: 36). The British Museum's Guide to Stone Age Antiquities (1926: 107) suggests that those with hour-glass perforations are Neolithic and Earlier in date and this convention is followed here, in line with other examples recorded on this database.