Find Spot record MDO7158 - Neolithic axe, Bere Regis

Approximately SY 862 918. A mottled grey flint axe, 137 mm long, was found in 1951-2 between Philliols Heath and Philliols Farm. The splayed cutting edge and relatively broad butt suggesting an imitation of a metal axe, together with partial grinding (see illustration) point to a late Neolithic date. In the possession of Mrs Thorne, Lower Stockley, Bere Heath. <<1>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1970, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1969, 174 (Serial). SDO69.

'The axe, fresh and unpatinated, is made of mottled grey flint with opaque inclusions; it measures 137 mm, in length. The symmetry of the cutting edge in section indicates that the tool was almost certainly intended for use as an axe rather than an adze, despite an irregular thickening midway along one face. Intensive grinding has been applied only to the cutting edge; the other edges, along the sides and at the butt, have been slightly blunted by grinding.
The splayed cutting edge and the relatively broad butt suggest imitation of a metal axe, and this, together with the partial grinding, points to a Late Neolithic date.
Footnote: For partially ground axes in datable contexts, see S.Piggott, Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles (1954), p358 and fig. 62:11,12.'

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456161 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 8 2023 7:09PM