Find Spot record MDO1637 - Neolithic perforated axe hammer from Northay Farm, Marshwood

A perforated stone axe-hammer from Northay Farm, Whitchurch Canonicorum ; SY(30)/384978.

The society is indebted to Colonel A. D. Pass for bringing to the notice of the Curator and securing for the Museum an interesting ground stone axe-hammer (D.C.M. 1952.53.1) found by Mr. S. Batten when harrowing a field at Northay Farm on the liassic clays in the Vale of Marshwood. The find-spot is a half mile east of Coney's Castle hill-fort, which is on the greensand.

Stone axe-hammers and battle-axes perforated for hafting are of several types, the cultural associations of which are certainly varied but not yet in all cases clear, although it is nearly 30 years since Reginald Smith first synthesised the evidence available.
All the different forms reflect metal types to a greater or lesser degree, and are referable generally to one or other phase of the Early Bronze Age. The true axe-hammer has one cutting edge and a blunt butt, and the Northay Farm example belongs to a class, derived from or at least paralleled by an early North European copper type, of which the essential features were defined by W. F. Grimes when he discussed the Welsh examples in 1935.
In plan, our specimen is a slender oval truncated to a squarish flat butt, with a more or less round shaft-hole set a little to the rear of the centre, at the widest part. The perforation is of hour-glass form (made by boring from both faces, not by a drill). <2>

The axe-hammer was found at SY 38449772, marked by Mr. Batten upon a tracing of the area. <3>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1953, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1952, 103-104 (Serial). SDO52.

<2> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 01-DEC-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<2.1> 1955, Oral: S W Batten, Northay Farm, Marshwood (Verbal communication). SDO17357.

<3> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey map 6 inches to 1 mile, 1968 (Map). SDO17337.

(SY 38449772) Neolithic Axe found AD 1952 (NAT)

<4> Evens, E D, Smith, I F and Wallis, F S, 1972, The petrological identification of stone implements from South-Western England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (Article in serial). SDO12419.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2022 3:29PM