Find Spot record MDO46 - Polished stone axe, Abbotsbury

Heavily weathered grey-green stone polished axe with rounded ends, measuring 7.7 inches long by 2.6 inches wide. Probably originally from Cornwall. Found during levelling works some 200 yards north west of the hill fort at Abbotsbury.

A polished stone axe and pestle from Abbotsbury - SY 57529075 (sic). A polished stone axe of Group 1a was found by Messrs Bugler, the Contractors, during levelling operations at a point 200 yds north-west of the hillfort at Abbotsbury (Abbotsbury Castle) in the summer of 1964. Examined by the SW Implement Petrology Survey (Dorset 103, No.1359) it was placed in Group 1A which indicates Cornwall as the most likely source of origin. (At the same spot they found a polished stone, considered by the Implement Petrology Survey to be a pestle, of pure quartzite (Dorset 105, No 1392). The weight of 18oz might suggest a hammer-head even though there is no hole. (The NGR given is clearly incorrect as Abbotsbury Castle is at SY 555865. The correct NGR should possibly be SY 55528675). <1>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1969, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1968, 165 (Serial). SDO68.

<2> Evens, E D, Smith, I F and Wallis, F S, 1972, The petrological identification of stone implements from South-Western England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (Article in serial). SDO12419.

<3> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450424 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jun 17 2024 12:33PM