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Details
LOT 0275
Massive Stone Age Thin-Butted Knapped Axe Head
EARLY-MIDDLE NEOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 3800-3100 B.P.
12 1/2 in. (2.1 kg, 32 cm).
Worked and unpolished on all surfaces and edges, trapezoidal in plan with rectangular cross-section and slightly convex broad sides, straight narrow sides; butt rounded and with reduced thickness; rounded cutting edge; grey to beige 'marbled' flint with inclusions.
Provenance
Danish private collection, T.H. Denmark.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12472-228694.
This lot has been cleared against the Art Loss Register database, and is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
Literature
Cf. MacGregor, A. (ed.), Antiquities from Europe and the Near East in the Collection of Lord McAlpine of West Green, Oxford, 1987, item 4.76, for type.
Footnotes
The unpolished so-called “flat” or “rectangular axe” was in widespread use in the 4th millennium B.C. in Southern Scandinavia and North Germany.
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