File:AXE HAMMER (FindID 986988-1086976).jpg

Very large stone axe-hammer, of petrological group XVIII, this stone is Quartz Dolerite, this stone is found generally within the Whinn Sill of northern England with outcrops from south of Berwick upon Tweed down to Middleton and round to Durham. The implements made of this stone seem to have been traded south and inland (see CBA research report NO. 67, Stone Axe Studies Vol.2, Clough and Cummins (1988), page 280, map 16 for distribution of implements of this group).

It is grey/green fine-grained stone now patinated a light brown to the original surfaces, the recent damage appears fresher in colour, presumably from agricultural implements scraping the surface. The cutting edge is damaged, these appear to be older and are darker in colour. The butt end has been battered in antiquity, probably from use as a heavy hammer, this would have been a useful implement for driving in posts and other such tasks, the cutting edge may have been used to initiate splits in green wood to form planks, the sheer weight of this axe makes it unlikely to have been used as an effective weapon.

The perforation is hour-glass shaped from being drilled from both directions, meeting in the middle, The diameter at the the surface of each side is circa. 46 mm, narrowing to 33 mm at the centre, a slight hollow extends from the front of the hole tapering to flat just before the top and the bottom of the cutting edge. All surfaces slightly rough to the touch, it is uncertain if this due to being “pecked” to shape with a hammer stone or natural surface loss during deposition. n.b. Most implements made of this type of stone appear to ground to shape rather than pecked. 

Whilst this implement has travelled/traded far from its source outcrop, remember that flint axes and other items made at Grimes Graves (Norfolk) were also traded all over the country during this period and earlier, not to mention Neolithic Jadeite axes made in the Italian alps found in the UK and Europe. Early Bronze Age, 1,650 to 1,250 BC (see CBA research report NO. 23, Stone Axe Studies, Clough and Cummins (1979), page 14 for chronology of stone axe/hammers).