Ballahasney missilehead

Date made: Late Mesolithic

Description: This piece of worked flint is around six thousand years old and was found in the north of the Island. It is made from the toffee-coloured flint that can still be found at the Point of Ayre and has been shaped to make a missile-head.

The missile-head was not made for an arrow – it is too thick and heavy for that. It would have been made to fit on the end of a javelin or a spear and used by the first settlers of the Island to kill mammals.

This object is one of the earliest pieces of evidence for trade on the Isle of Man. This shape and style of missile-head was first adopted in Ireland around seven thousand years ago. People, objects and ideas must have travelled across the Irish Sea during the following one thousand years, bringing this Irish heavy-blade style to the Isle of Man.

Measurements: overall: 5 cm x 3.8 cm

Materials: stone: flint

Date found: 1982

Object name: missilehead

Collection: Archaeology Collection

ID number: 1982-0144/108

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