Neolithic Stone battle axe - 110 mm

Neolithic Stone Battle Axe / Battle Hammer

Culture / Period: Neolithic
Date / Period: c. 2800–2400 B.C.
Material: Stone
Dimensions: 110 mm
Condition: Good condition

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Provenance information:
Object Registration ID: 966

The current owner (S.N.J. S.) purchased the battle axe from J.P. C. in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The previous owner, J.P. C. from Amsterdam, stated that the object had been in his collection since the 1990s.

According to the previous owner, the object had previously been in a private collection in The Netherlands since the 1990s.

No further information concerning the earlier ownership history of the object was available from the previous owner.

Background Information:
Perforated stone battle axes, also referred to as battle hammers, are characteristic objects of the later Neolithic period in northern and north-western Europe. This example has a carefully shaped stone body with a central shaft hole for mounting on a wooden handle. Producing such an object required considerable skill: the stone was selected and shaped before the hafting hole was laboriously drilled, demonstrating an established and technically accomplished tradition of prehistoric stoneworking.

Battle axes could function as weapons, but their significance extended beyond purely practical combat. Well-made examples are also associated with status and personal identity, and comparable axes occur in funerary contexts. Their form and workmanship suggest that they could serve as visible symbols of prestige as well as functional weapons. Without a documented archaeological context, however, the precise function of this individual example cannot be determined.

Dating to approximately 2800–2400 B.C., the object belongs to a period when battle-axe traditions were widespread across parts of northern Europe, broadly associated with the Late Neolithic and Corded Ware horizon. Communities of this period combined farming and livestock keeping with extensive networks through which materials, technologies and cultural traditions circulated over considerable distances.

The substantial stone body, drilled shaft hole and characteristic axe form reflect both the practical skills and social traditions of Late Neolithic communities. As a weapon and potentially an object of status, it forms a tangible connection to the people of prehistoric Europe and to the material culture through which identity and prestige could be expressed."