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Axe-hammer
from Auchencairn Moss, Kirkcudbrightshire
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This stone axe-hammer was found at Auchencairn Moss in Kirkcudbrightshire. 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. There is a groove of unknown purpose on the upper surface.
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.
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- Online ID: 000-190-004-809-C
- Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
- Project:
National Museums Scotland
Project description View all records in project - Ref: National Museums Scotland X.AH 110
- Date: Between 2100 and 1400 BC
- Material: Greenstone
Axe hammer - Dimensions: 11.25" x 4.50"
- What: Axe hammer
- Subject:
- Who:
- Where: Scotland, Kirkcudbrightshire, Auchencairn Moss
- Event:
- Description: Axe hammer of greenstone from Auchencairn Moss, Kirkcudbrightshire
- 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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