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Home » The Domestic Sphere » Stone Age Settlements » Tools

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  • The finds shown in this photograph include flint and stone polished axes typical of this period. These axes, when hafted, are perfectly capable of felling small trees. The fragment of pottery shown is of a type found throughout the Britain from around 3500BC. It once belonged to a large heavily decorated round bottomed vessel. The final artefact, a leaf-shaped arrowhead, began to be used from around 4000BC. Wooden bows found preserved in the Somerset Levels indicate that a log bow was probably the preferred hunting weapon at this time.
Group of Late Stone Age finds, Abergavenny area
  • This photograph shows a range of artefacts typical of the Bronze Age and all found in the Abergavenny area. The palstave and socketed axes are representative of the range of wood working tools in use at this time. Both are made using the new material after which this archaeological period is named - bronze. Although the introduction of bronze into Wales around 2500BC led to the creation of several new tool types, stone continued to be used as shown by this fine example of an axe hammer, and a barbed and tanged arrowhead, both of which would have been hafted when in use.
Group of Bronze Age finds, Abergavenny area
  • This image shows seven handaxes all made out of volcanic rock, each is about 10cm long. Volcanic rocks are coarse-grained and so do not flake as well as flint. In consequence the finished tools have a slightly crude appearance to them. These tools were discovered during recent excavations at Pontnewydd Cave.
Early Neanderthal hand-held axes
  • This is a rare example of a Neolithic (5,000 year old) stone axehead still within its wooden handle. The axehead is about 17cm long. It was discovered eroded from the muds in front of the Aberavon Lido in 1971, and is unusual since wood rarely survives from this time. The axehead is made of a greenstone originating from Cornwall. It has been shaped and then polished to give it a sharp cutting blade. The wooden haft would have enabled its user to swing the axe to put force behind the blow. The axehead would have been used in forest clearance.
Polished stone axehead made by Wales' first farmers, c. 5,000 years ago
  • Saddle querns and grain rubbers were used towards the end of the Stone Age in Wales (c. 6,000 - 4,000 years ago) to grind wheat and barley. They are generally found at settlement sites, however these examples were found at Gwernvale, a tomb near Crickhowell. The flour that would have been produced using this quern and rubber would have been much coarser than that we use today and would have contained many large rough lumps. Many people's teeth at this time were heavily worn as a consequence of eating bread made with such gritty flour.
Saddle quern and grain rubber used by Wales' first farmers c. 5,000 years ago
  • This image shows a group of finds discovered during the excavation of a tomb on the Isle of Anglesey. The tomb consisted of a rock cut pit covered by a massive stone. The finds shown include flint scrapers, knives, a bone pin and pottery (the pin is approximately 15cm long). They are typical of the range of artefacts recovered from tombs of this date.
Grave goods found in a 5,000 year old tomb