A Neolithic axe-head found in excavations at Howe, Mainland, Orkney in 1982. The Howe was one of the biggest excavations of the 1970s and 80s, which investigated an Iron Age broch, a Neolithic tomb and an earlier structure. This axehead was found in a clay layer over the levelled remains of the earliest ‘phase 1’ structure, which has been interpreted as an early Neolithic ‘Knap of Howar’-type house. A ‘Maes Howe’-type tomb was constructed over this layer.
This axehead is manufactured from monchiquite, a locally available igneous dyke rock, that can be flaked, pecked and ground to shape with comparative ease.
L:112mm, B:56mm, T:32mm.
This model was produced for a Leverhulme Trust funded project ‘Working stone, making communities: technology and identity on prehistoric Orkney’ directed by Prof Mark Edmonds, University of York.
The Orkney Museum, Orkney Islands Council. OM HH82 SF 7392. © Hugo Anderson-Whymark.
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