Ancient Northern Europe, Denmark, Neolithic period, ca. 3900 to 1700 BCE. A great pair of stone blades perhaps for handheld use. They are both hand-knapped from a creamy gray and brown chert with delightfully tactile and smooth surfaces. The forms are similar, with each featuring a thick butt end with a straight edge for gripping, a stocky body, and an acutely angled blade edge that encircles the perimeter to the rounded tip. The brown axe is thicker and convex on both sides, whereas the other axe has one convex and one slightly flatter face. Tools like these are part of the technology that marked Neolithic life in northwestern Europe, alongside farming, pottery, and longhouses. Axes of this sort are often found inside of dolmens - large granite blocks that form tombs. Size of each (both are relatively similar): 4.6" L x 1.6" W (11.7 cm x 4.1 cm)
Provenance: ex-private Toluca Lake, California, USA collection
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#164410
Condition
Chips to faces and peripheries commensurate with age and use, otherwise both are intact and excellent. Smooth surface textures throughout both!