204
PERFORATED AXES.
[CHAP. VIII.
The grooves seem to have been produced by picking, but have subsequently been made smoother by grinding. It was found at a spot known as the Sand Hills, in Lord Middleton's Park,[1] near Wollaton, Kotts. The Rev. W. C. Lukis, F.S.A., had a closely similar specimen (10 inches), found at Jervaux, near Bedale, Yorkshire. It is not, however, fluted on the faces.
Some of these instruments are so heavy that they can hardly have been wielded in the ordinary manner as axes, though they may have served for splitting wood, either by direct blows or by being used as
Fig. 133.—Buckthorpe. 12
wedges. Bishop Lyttelton thought they might have been battle-axes, but Pegge[2] pointed out that they were too heavy for such a purpose or for use as missiles, and came to the conclusion "that these perforated stones were not originally applied to any warlike purpose, but rather to some domestic service, either as a hammer or beetle for common use." Professor Nilsson,[3] at a later date, has arrived at the same conclusion, and considers them most suitable for being held in the left hand by a short handle, and driven into wood by blows from a
