Monday, November 24, 2014

Archaeology: an amazing axe

As someone of Danish ancestry (there is still a Bille family castle), I keep an eye on science stories out of my little homeland.  This was a surprising one.  An axe found during a road tunnel excavation project is made of stone and 5,000 years old - and the handle is still on it.
The flint axe was found in anaerobic silt that preserved its handle and other wooden artifacts, like paddles.  Museum archaeologist Anker Sørensen reacted as if, well, she'd been hit with an axe handle: "Finding a hilt axe that is so well preserved is absolutely incredible," she said. 
It's only been two weeks since another exciting find in the same excavation: the footprints of two people who'd apparently been tending a fish-trap. 

Museum Lolland-Falster released this photo of the axe before it was taken to a preservation lab.

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