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LOT 1635
Published East Danish 'Limited Culture 4' Ertebolle Groundstone Limhamn Axe
SOUTH SCANDINAVIAN MESOLITHIC PERIOD, CIRCA 6300-5900 B.P.
4 1/2 in. (406 grams, 11.5 cm).
Finely produced from local diabase/amphibolite and characteristic of the restricted Limhamn-Nivå tradition of North Sjælland and Scania; unusually well-polished for the type, with intact form and clear Mesolithic workmanship, possibly ceremonial.
ProvenanceFound Aatoften Settlement, Nive Mill South, Nivaa, Denmark, 1970.
From the private collection of amateur archaeologist Jorgen Faxholm, UK.
Accompanied by copies of the relevant book pages where this axe is published.
Faxholm, Jorgen, Stoneage Settlements in the Nivaa Valley, and Limhamn Axes - and other Axes, Copenhagen, 2020.
FootnotesThis type represents a distinctive South Scandinavian Mesolithic tradition. Limhamn axes illustrate the indigenous technological development from the earlier Nøstvet and Lihult tools. While Limhamn axes are typically heavily scarred from knapping and crushing, this specimen appears
unused and shows unusually fine grinding and surface finish, suggesting a piece of elevated status, adding limited practical use. The type is found exclusively in North Sjælland (Denmark) and Scania (Sweden), indicating a localised craft tradition with minimal external influence. A rare and representative example of Scandinavian Mesolithic stone craftsmanship, unbroken from Maglemose to Ertebølle.
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LOT 1635
Published East Danish 'Limited Culture 4' Ertebolle Groundstone Limhamn Axe
Estimate £200 - 300€230 - 350 (for guidance only)$270 - 410 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£80 (EUR 93; USD 108) +BP*
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Very Large African Stone Age Homo Erectus Knapped Handaxe
Lower Palaeolithic Period, circa 1,000,000-500,000 B.P.Estimate: £180 - 240 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Ovate handaxe in dark and light brown stone; repaired. 1.41 kg, 25.8 cm
From Central Sahara, Africa. Ex old German collection formed in the 1970s by Dr J Fehkhaber. Acquired on the European art market. -
Large North American Stone Age Knapped Spear Point Group
Archaic Woodland Period, circa 2500-1900 B.P. or laterEstimate: £40 - 60 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Comprising three points with a 'swallow-tail' type tang and one with a rectangular tang in cream and grey stone. 72.7 grams total, 63-80 mm
From a previous old English collection. From the private collection of a West Midlands lady collector; acquired from a UK auction house. -
Farnham Very Large Stone Age Knapped Flint Pick
Neolithic Period, circa 6,000 B.P.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £5
Roughly triangular in section with broad point; much cortex remaining. 713 grams, 21 cm
Found during the original official excavations in the Farnham area, Surrey, UK, which were conducted by Harold Faulker (1875-1963), and William Francis Rankine (c.1877-1962), who were instrumental with the excavation works and pit dwellings at sites including Six Bells, Frensham, Tilford, Thursley and Bagshot, and Waverley, amongst others at and near Farnham in the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the material is now in the prestigious Farnham museum. The present part of the collection having been gifted to their good friend and Haselmere Parish Priest, Charles Borelli (c.1914-2000) of Farnham; who was part of the Borelli family from Italy who emigrated from Lake Como in 1828 to set up the Borelli family watch and jewellery business; thence by family descent to his nephew.
Farnham district is one of the most interesting prehistoric regions in England, and has been visited by a succession of prehistoric peoples from Palaeolithic times onwards. Along the southern slope of the Farnham valley are three gravel terraces, which are famous prehistorically and have yielded large quantities of flint implements and bones of prehistoric animals, notably the mammoth. In prehistoric times, the chalk deposits played an important role in attracting settlers, as they contained rich layers of flint nodules used to make implements. The Farnham Gravels have been an abundant source of Palaeolithic finds, most prominent being hand axes. The axes differ in type, and each type is associated with a cultural phase of the Palaeolithic period. Types similar to these are found in similar deposits in the Somme valley and in many English valley gravels. Flint mining was also carried out by the Neolithic folk. Polished axes and leaf forms, arrowheads and knives, or possibly lance heads, are characteristic of the Neolithic flint work.
