Find Spot record 2874 - Neolithic Axe from Greenwood Nursery

<1> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Walker W, 06/11/01 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

A stone axe head found at a depth of 2.5 to 3 feet at Greenwood Nursery, Willaston.

<2> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Annakin-Smith A, 10/05/03 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

A stone axe was found at Greenwood Nursery near Willaston around April 2001. It was found about 2 to 3 feet below ground surface in clay.

<3> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, 2003, A Stone Axe from Willaston, Ellesmere Port and Neston (Unpublished Document). SCH4934.

The axe is 110mm long, with a maximum width of 650mm and thickness of 250mm. It has been chamfered on both sides to produce an edge all round. It would have been set in a wooden haft with the wider edge being the cutting edge. It has also been smoothed by rubbing or grinding on another stone. It is made from a dark grey rock, probably either igneous or metamorphic, with possible iron or quartz inclusions, possibly from Penmaen-Mawr or the Lake District. The axe probably dates to the later Neolithic (3000-2351 bc) period. This type of stone axe is generally considered to be Neolithic; as few were produced in the Mesolithic, and the Bronze Age is typified by socketed stone axes. This does not, however, rule out the possibility that it could date from almost any period of later prehistoric Britain.