91Èȱ¬

This small stone axehead is made from volcanic tuff and dates from the neolithic period. It would have been used, with an attached handle, for tasks such as chopping wood. The axehead was uncovered by a fishing trawler from an area called Dogger Bank under the North Sea. In the neolithic period the island of Dogger Bank is thought to have already been submerged about 10 metres under the sea and be about 20 miles off the English coastline. We can only theorise about how the axe came to be in this unusual location. It may be that the island stayed above sea level for a longer period than is thought or that axe heads were dropped by fisherman from a later period as a remembrance offering to their ancient ancestors.