Late neolithic adze at Lovecott Farm (EHER 4704)

Shafthole adze (or 'perforated sandstone hammer') found while ploughing.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Shafthole adze (or 'perforated sandstone hammer') found while ploughing. Broken longitudinally-hour glass perforation. In PPS report classed as a mace but Fiona Roe would describe it as a shafthole adze. Found about 1970. <1> Found in the fields of Lovecotes (or Lovecott Farm). It is of fine grade sandstone, dark grey-brown. It had been broken, probably by the ploughshare. It was submitted to Dr F.S. Wallis who reported: "A rather fine grained uniformly graded sandstone. The quartz grains are angular to subangular and unstrained, and are cemented by films of limonite. There are also many flakes of white mica and some almost opaque to deep red grains of haematite." The adze had been broken, probably by the ploughshare. It was 165mm long x 90mm broad x 40mm depth of perforation. Upper and lower faces are rounded, giving oval, section. The edge is straight and the implement would have had parallel faces. One face is slightly flattened. The hour glass perforation was drilled, partly from both sides, and is smooth and polished. The outside edge shows signs of wear on one face only. The polish round the waisted part of the shaft hole could be taken to indicate wear from a haft. Signs of damage are no doubt connected with the breaking of the implement. Little obvious sign of wear on the intact end. Probably late neolithic in date. <2> Is No E43 in Clough and Green's List of East Anglian implement petrology. Classed here as a 'mace'. <3> Called a 'shafthole adze' by Fiona Roe. <4> Drawings and photographs in the SMR. <5> <6> Correspondence in site over object. Nothing here that isn't in <2> (which has a bibliography for this kind of find). <7> See also: <8>