Map Ref: NY274072 Landranger Map Number: 89
attitude: 54.454977N Longitude: 3.121304W
Picture from J. Thompson
High above the valley in Langdale is the famous stone age axe factory wear thousands of stone axe head were produced .When Professor Bill Cummins examined nearly 2000 Neolithic axes from finds all over England and Wales, he found that 27% were made from polished greenstone volcanic tuff from Great Langdale in Cumbria.
The British Museums 1978 catalogue of 368 Neolithic axes found in the Thames lists 15 from Langdale and they have also been found in places as far apart as Northern Ireland and Peterborough. In fact, most of the Langdale axe finds are in Lincolnshire and the east midlands. Why were these axes so prized and how did they travel so far?
The greenstone comes from the intrusion of a narrow vein of tuff in the volcanic rocks of Great Langdale. Debris and hundreds of "reject" axes have been found on the scree slopes of Pike o' Stickle. Even today, Great Langdale is remote and the climb to the source of the stone is arduous. How did Neolithic peoples know that this vein of very special stone was there in such a remote and insignificant geological fault? How did they mine it, shape the axes and then polish them to perfection? Perhaps the most intriguing question is that of distribution. Were there long trade routes over the sea to Northern Ireland and across the breadth of Britain to Peterborough and Lincolnshire? Were the axes distributed by means of long chains of gift exchanges between persons of high status?
Why were these axes so special? Many of those found in eastern England have been well worn, but others show no sign of wear at all. They are often found in wet places as if they had been deliberately placed there as offerings. The stone from Langdale is found elsewhere, so why was it specifically taken from such a high and dangerous place - frost shattered pinnacles high up on the side of one of England's remotest valleys? Did the place of origin itself have special religious significance? Were the polished axes seen more as high status symbols than working axes? Is there a parallel with the symbolic maces found in Wiltshire barrows (in Devizes Museum)? Could these highly prized axes be symbols of wealth and authority preceded by the antler batons of the Palaeolithic and succeeded by the ceremonial whetstone of Sutton Hoo, field marshals' batons and the sceptre of today's monarchy?
Got your own image of the Axe factory? Send it in and we will put it live
The Picture below was sent in by Tommy Rose Jones, many thanks
Please click the image to see a full size version
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