St Michael's Isle Stone Axehead
Date made: Neolithic: 4000-2000 BC
Description: This stone axehead was found on St Michael’s Isle on the east coast of the Isle of Man and is over four thousand years old.
Axeheads were popular tools in Neolithic times. They could be used to chop down trees, hollow out logs and kill prey. But not all axeheads show signs of wear and tear and some are highly polished, indicating that they were never actually used.
This axehead has a polished blade-end, but a deliberately roughened haft-end. This may have been done to give the surface of the stone better grip where it was attached to a wooden handle. Many axeheads were imported from other places, but this one was made on the Isle of Man, from a stone source not far from Douglas.
Measurements: overall: 13.5 cm x 7.5 cm
Materials: stone
Date found: 1971
Object name: axehead
Collection: Archaeology Collection
ID number: 1971-0144
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Was this exhibit accessioned from A D Trillo? I think it might be the one I found when I was 11 on the south west shore of the islet - Derek Trillo Report this
Hello Derek, thanks for getting in touch and thank you for donating the axehead, it is indeed the one that you discovered! The axehead is also on display in our Prehistoric Gallery here at the Manx Museum. - Allison Fox, Curator: Archaeology Report this