Polished flint axes appeared in the New Stone Age. The flint nodules would first have been flaked to a rough shape and then rubbed or ground with abrasive material to smooth their surfaces. Although polishing would have made them more effective tools as they were less likely to crack, they may also have been regarded as high status objects because of the time it took to make them. This example was found on the surface of a field, near the Bronze Age barrow cemetery at Brimpton Common.
Further information about the archaeological site is available on the HER: www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MWB10661&resourceID=1030
HER – The Historic Environment Record (HER) is a register of all known archaeological and historical sites in the unitary authority of West Berkshire.
Period: c 4000-2350 BC
Place: Brimpton
