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LOT 0350
Bronze Age Ritual Limestone Slab with Drillings
CIRCA 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
25 3/4 in. (65.7 kg, 65.5 cm).
Rectangular worked stone block with one irregular edge; the thicker, dressed edge with a group of five drilled holes, possibly cup-marks, in a V-shaped formation. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
See Ebbesen, K., Danmarks megalitgrave. Vol. 1. København, 2011; Glob, P. V., Helleristninger i Danmark Vol. VII, Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter, Odense,1969; Milstreu, G.& Dodd, J., The cup-mark: the smallest, most frequent, cosmopolitan and most complicated symbol in Adoranten, 2018.
FootnotesCup-marks, with or without surrounding rings, are among the most enigmatic signs which can be found widely across ancient European landscapes, most often in association with running water. Circular arrangements are one notable and recurrent feature, while straight lines and parallel rows are less frequently represented. The present stone most closely resembles the kind of feature found at e.g. Østergård, Risehøj, Østermarie on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea (Milstreu & Dodd, 2018, fig.15).
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Bronze Age Ribbed Socketted Axehead
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £150 - 200 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £75
With a gently curving cutting edge, raised horizontal ribs to the socket. 88 grams, 55 mm
Kuizenga collection, The Netherlands, formed from the 1970s onwards. -
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Bronze Age Ceremonial Cup Stone Slab
Circa 2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,235
Irregular slab fragment with weathered upper face, cluster of seven cup-marks without surrounding rings. 50.6 kg, 57.5 cm
From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.
The fragment plausibly represents one corner of an arrangement such as that at Tanum, Denmark (Milstreu & Dodd, 2018, fig.8) in which a cluster of shallow depressions forms a larger pattern. The depressions may have been used to collect dew or rainwater, visualised as a gift from the gods provided without human intervention, as well as for ceremonial uses. -
Bronze Age South-Eastern Type Looped and Socketted Axehead
Circa 10th-8th century B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £845
Broad hexagonal socket with thick rim to the mouth, basal loop, curved edge with lateral spurs. 308 grams, 94 mm
Found near Alton, Farnham, Surrey, UK. Acquired since the 1970s. From the private collection of a Surrey, UK, gentleman.
