Axehead
Object number1982/202.07392
TitleAxehead
DescriptionAxehead, stone. Trapezoid with curving blade edge. The butt and one side of the axehead appear to have been particularly heavily damaged in antiquity, with many flakes removed. The stone has been identified as monchiquite (Ballin Smith (ed) 1994, 194).
112mm long
It appears that this axehead and axehead fragment HH 7407 were found in a clay layer that covered the remains of the easternmost of the early Neolithic structures at Howe (i.e., the building known as the 'mortuary-house') and appears to pre-date the Maeshowe type tomb on the site (Ballin Smith (ed) 1994; Davidson and Henshall 1989, 64 and 176).
(Camptonite stone axe, oval in section. Narrow and severely chipped, as if used as a hammer. Secondary flaking present on both surfaces, mainly down one side and less severely on the other. Other end has been ground to a cutting edge, which is worn, and later slightly damaged. Axe polished smooth. Monchinquite. (illus 109))
Production periodNeolithic to Late Iron Age, Howe Phase 1
Collection PlaceHowe of Howe, Stromness
Object nameaxehead
Object categoryartefact, stone
Materialstone