from Airiehassan, Wigtownshire
![Postcard of Axe-hammer.](/database/media.php?file=postcard/image/0098/00982454.jpg&PHPSESSID=bdf1s5t2hlp0lcmvb7kg33h436) 000-190-004-798-C © National Museums Scotland |
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Axe-hammer
Axe-hammers are heavy-duty stone tools, ranging in length from 150 to 350 mm. They have shaftholes for a wooden handle. They could have been used as massive wedges, and they probably date to between 2100 and 1400 BC. This example was found at Airiehassan in Wigtownshire.
Made from a large cobble, this axe-hammer has a bluntish blade at one end, a curving butt, flattish upper and lower surfaces and a shafthole bored through them near the butt end.
The function of axe-hammers has been debated. Traces of use suggest that the butt end was struck and the blade end pushed through a resistant material. The narrow handle would have been too weak to act like an axe handle, so may have been for steadying the tool in position. Use as a heavy-duty wedge seems the most likely. There are unexplained concentrations of axe-hammers in south-west Scotland and north-west England.
Record details
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Online ID: |
000-190-004-798-C |
Image Rights Holder: |
National Museums Scotland |
Project: |
0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project |
Ref: |
National Museums Scotland X.AH 82 |
Date: |
Between 2100 and 1400 BC
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Material: |
Whinstone
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Dimensions: |
9.25" x 3.88"
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What: |
Hammer head
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Subject: |
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Who: |
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Where: |
Scotland, Wigtownshire, Airiehassan
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Event: |
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Description: |
Hammer head of whinstone from Airiehassan, Wigtownshire
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References: |
- Clough, T.H.McK. and Cummins, W.A. (eds). Stone Axe Studies, Volume 2. London: Council for British Archaeology (Research Report 67), 1988.
- Fenton, M.B. The petrological identification of stone battle axes and axe-hammers from Scotland. In: Clough, T.H.McK. and Cummins, W.A. (eds). Stone Axe Studies. London: Council for British Archaeology (Research Report 67), 1988, pp 92-132.
- Roe, F.E.S. Typology of stone implements with shaftholes. In: Clough, T.H.McK. and Cummins, W.A. (eds). Stone Axe Studies. London: Council for British Archaeology (Research Report 23), 1979, pp 23-48.
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