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Axe-hammer

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from Duns, Berwickshire

Postcard of Axe-hammer.
000-190-004-764-C
© National Museums Scotland

Axe-hammer

This stone axe-hammer was found at Duns in Berwickshire. Axe-hammers are heavy-duty 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.

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: 000-190-004-764-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 8
Date: Between 2100 and 1400 BC
Material: Whinstone
Dimensions: 9.75" x 4.25" x 3.50"
What: Axe
Subject:
Who:
Where: Scotland, Berwickshire, Duns
Event:
Description: Axe of whinstone from Duns, Berwickshire
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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