Find Spot record MDO5757 - Pebble-hammer, Holt

A large worked stone object found in 1962 during ploughing of allotments. The object had a central hole, presumably for a wooden shaft, and was described as a hammer head. It appeared to have been broken in use.

SU 030057. A large sarsen hammer-head was found by W.J. Pounds in 1962 while ploughing an allotment at Holt Wood. Originally weighing about 3lbs., it appears to have broken during use. The perforation, of the usual dice-box type, was highly polished by handle friction. <1>

Serial no. Dorset 1347, County no. 100. Pebble-hammer of quartzite. <2>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1967, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1966, 113-114 (Serial). SDO66.

‘SOME ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS IN EAST DORSET AND PURBECK.
A sarsen hammer-head from Holt, near Wimborne.
The large sarsen hammer-head illustrated in fig. 6 was found by W. J. Pounds about 1962 whilst ploughing an allotment at Holt Wood about 4 miles E.N.E. of Wimborne (SU 030057). Originally it must have weighed nearly 3lbs. It has the usual dice-box perforation which has been highly polished by handle friction at its narrowest part. Both ends are heavily bruised. The fracture is an old one, showing later edge damage and iron stains, and the implement was presumably broken during use.’

<2> 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, Appendix 1 (Article in serial). SDO12419.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213071 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 4 2023 6:51PM