Figure 1. The distribution of Group VI axes: for Ireland after Cooney and Mandal 1998; for Britain excluding Northern Ireland, after Clough and Cummins 1988. Note, in Britain, the concentrations in the areas of Flamborough Head, the Peak District, Lincolnshire and the Nene valley in East Anglia.
Figure 2: The distribution of a) Group I, Ia; b) Group VII; c) Group XVIII; d) Group XX, from Clough and Cummins 1988. Note the concentrations in the areas of Flamborough Head, the Peak District, Lincolnshire and the Nene valley in East Anglia – areas in which Group VI axes are also concentrated (Figure 1). Together they suggest that some geographical locales had a particular significance in the exchange of axes.
Figure 3: a. The distribution of some pre-3800 BC sites with axes. Note that Lismore Fields occurs in the Peak District and Padholme/Fengate in proximity to the Nene valley, two areas where many axes are concentrated (Figs 1 and 2). b. the relationship between stone axes and rectangular buildings in Ireland.
Figure 4: Spot the Mesolithic axe: polished and ground stone axes from Northern Ireland. Not to scale. 1 – top left – Group VI from Ballyharry; 2-4 Group IX from Ballyharry after Moore 2003; 5-7 from Newferry and after Woodman 1977. Despite their classic Neolithic shapes, axe 6 has a date of 4965-5535 uncalibrated BC and axe 7 a date of 5680 uncalibrated BC.
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Last updated: Wed May 27 2009