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Macehead

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from Orkney

Postcard of Macehead.
000-100-033-048-C
© National Museums Scotland

Macehead

A mace was a ceremonial weapon, used principally as a status symbol between 3100 and 2500 BC. This macehead was found in Orkney. It was a prestige item, used to display status between {DATES}.

This macehead looks like a flattened pestle in shape, and is called a 'proto-cushion' type. It has been made of an attractive bonded and speckled stone, and has a straight shafthole towards one end.

Stone maceheads were used as prestige items - symbols of power status - from the late 4th to the early 2nd millennium BC. They were often made from attractive rocks, and rarely show signs of use.


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Online ID: 000-100-033-048-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 119
Date: Between 3100 and 2500 BC
Material: Marble; vertical shaft hole
Dimensions: 3.25" x 1.94" x 1.00"; shaft hole 0.69" D
What: Mace head
Subject:
Who:
Where: Scotland, Orkney
Event:
Description: Marble mace head, pestle type, from Orkney
References:
  • Gibson, W.J. Maceheads of 'Cushion' type in Britain. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 78 (1943-4), pp 16-25. 
  • Ritchie, P.R. Stone axeheads and cushion maceheads from Orkney and Shetland: some similarities and contrasts. In: Sharples, N.M. and Sheridan, J.A. (eds) Vessels for the Ancestors. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992, pp 213-220. 
  • Simpson, D.D.A. and Ransom, R. Maceheads and the Orcadian Neolithic. In: Sharples, N.M. and Sheridan, J.A. (eds) Vessels for the Ancestors. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1992, pp 221-243. 
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