Possible stone & bronze age axe heads?

Standman · 10-08-2014 2:33am #1

Just came across this forum and it has really piqued my interest in our archaeological heritage. It reminded me of a couple of "family heirlooms" that have been in the family since before I was born, specifically one metallic and one stone axe head. Was home recently and had a look at both & took some pics.

I'm pretty sure the metallic one is bronze; it doesn't attract a magnet and I can see some slight green rust which I assume is caused by copper oxidization.

The stone one I'm less sure about, I've seen plenty of stones all over the place that look similar.

There does seem to some kind of scar on one side of it (pic 4) that doesn't appear natural to me but then again I'm a complete amateur, so if anyone can take a look and let us know what you think it would be great!

slowburner · 10-08-2014 12:32pm

The 'axe' is a later Bronze age looped palstave (1050 - 950 BC).
It's a bit difficult to say anything about the stone. Can you post an image or two of it in profile?
It appears to be granite which would be unusual enough but it could be an unpolished rough out.

Standman · 10-08-2014 4:39pm

Was talking to my brother who is a geologist, he says the presence of muscovite in the granite indicates the stone was most likely sourced in the Wicklow mountains around Blessington.

Hopefully I'll be finding out soon where it was actually found. Of course, it mightn't even be an axe-head in which case none of that even matters!

Here are some more pics anyway:

Wider end:

Pointy end:

Possible stone & bronze age axe heads?

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