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Maceheads

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From Bookan, Orkney

Maceheads
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A mace was a ceremonial weapon. These five stone maceheads, all deliberately broken, were found at Bookan on Orkney, near the stone circle and ritual complexes of Stenness and Brodgar. They were buried between 2900 and 1700 BC.

All the maceheads have been broken at the perforations through which wooden handles were inserted.

Maceheads could have been used as weapons, but their chief role was as symbols of power. They took time and skill to make. They were sometimes deliberately sacrificed to the gods, as these examples surely are.

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