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1908.60.17

Stone tool, hand-axe. [MJD 21/05/2013]

1908.60.17

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Collection type
Object
Description
Stone tool, hand-axe. [MJD 21/05/2013]
Long description
Stone tool, hand-axe. The surfaces have mid orange patina. The left and right edges are retouched. [MJD 21/05/2013]
Person
Maker Unknown Maker
Field collector F.W. Knowles
Field collector Francis Howe Seymour Knowles
PRM source F.W. Knowles
PRM source Francis Howe Seymour Knowles
Date / Period
Archaeological period: Palaeolithic
Date collected
1907
Acquisition information
Purchased: 1908
Materials and processes
Material Stone, Process Flaked, Process Retouched
Dimensions
Thick: max 31 mm, Width: max 62 mm, Length: max 105 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1908.60.17
Research and responses

I think this should be Biddenham not Biddenden as there is a Biddenham just outside Bedford on the west side of the city but no Biddenden, the only place of that name I can find on multimap is in Kent and it has possibly therefore been mistakenly given for this place [AP 28/07/2006]

The donors catalogue confirms that this is F.W. Knowles rather than any of the other F. Knowles who gave archaeological items at about this time [AP 10/5/2000] However - In all probability this is actually Francis Howe Seymour Knowles, in the Annual Report of 1905 it says: 'Mr F. W. Knowles, of Oriel College has continued his practical study of the flight of the boomerang.' but in the 1906 Annual Report of the museum it says: '... and Mr F. H. S. Knowles, who has continued his practical researches into the characteristics and capabilities of the boomerang and the spear-thrower.' This suggests to me that for some reason Balfour recorded his name inaccurately until 1906 when it was corrected. This would fit with the date of this entry [AP 15/03/2004] It cannot be his son Francis Gerald William Knowles because he was not born until 1915, see biographies file [AP 03/03/2005]

According to http://www.irsociety.co.uk/Archives/17/Beds_1.htm the gravel pit at Biddenham was '... owned by S.W. Jarvis & Son, a firm of stone and monumental masons in Alexandra Road, Bedford.' [AP 28/07/2006]

F.H.S. Knowles carried out some analysis of his own collection from Biddenham and used the collection to furnish examples for his publication "Knowles, F.H.S. 1953. Stone-worker's progress: a study of stone implements in the Pitt Rivers Museum. Oxford:University Press" [CB 28/10/2009]

Search terms: Tool, Hand-axe

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