Small Neolithic flint axehead. From Silkstead, Otterbourne, Hampshire.

Flint axehead

Neolithic

Surface find collected from Silkstead, Otterbourne, Hampshire

This small axehead would have been used for tree clearance by Hampshire's first farmers. It was created from a flint nodule, which would have been shaped by the removal of flint flakes with a stone or antler hammer. Originally the axehead would have been set in the socket of a wooden haft, not unlike a modern axe. Over several thousand years, the surface of this flint tool has been weathered by chemicals in the soil to form a white skin, or patina, and shows some staining by iron compounds.