- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Stone tool, crude cordate hand axe
- Long description
- 'An unrolled handaxe which has suffered both ancient and modern damage along its edges. It is made from a very cherty flint (not used for any of the other bifaces), and does not have a "typical" Wolvercote outline shape or profile, being almost ovate in shape and relatively roughly worked.' (From page 40 of The Wolvercote Channel Handaxe Assemblage: A Comparative Study, by Joyce A. Tyldesley (BAR British Series 153), Oxford: B.A.R. (1986).) [AS 19/07/2011; JC 15 1 2015]
- Geographical reference
- England Oxfordshire Oxford Wolvercote Wolvercote Brick Pit
- Person
- Maker Unknown Maker
- Field collector Alexander James Montgomerie Bell
- PRM source Archibald Colquhoun Bell
- Date / Period
- Archaeological period: Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian
- Date collected
- By 1920
- Acquisition information
- Purchased: 1920
- Dimensions
- Width: max 97 mm, Length: max 115 mm, Weight 410 g
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1921.91.473.3
- Research and responses
This object was examined by Joyce Tyldesley as part of her PhD thesis, published by B.A.R. in 1986 (see publications field below). She noted (p.40), that this biface "differs markedly in morphology, raw material and technology from the other Wolvercote Channel pieces [and] doubts may perhaps be raised about its correct place in the assemblage". [AS 19/07/2011]
In 1894 Alexander James Montgomerie Bell published two articles about Palaeolithic remains from Wolvercote in volume 30 of the journal Antiquary. Full references: Bell, A.M. 1894. 'Palaeolithic Remains at Wolvercote, Oxfordshire'. Antiquary 30: 148 - 152. and Bell, A.M. 1894. 'Palaeolithic Remains at Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, No. II'. Antiquary 30: 192 - 198. [MN 05/06/2009]
In 1900 a third paper was published by Bell updating his discoveries at the site. Full Reference: Bell, A.M. 1900. 'On the Occurrence of Flint Implements of Palaeolithic Type on an Old Land-Surface in Oxfordshire, Near Wolvercote and Pear-Tree Hill, Together with a Few Implements of Various Plateau Types' The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 50: 81. This paper can be accessed online through JSTOR. The stable URL is http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842715. [MN 05/06/2009]
A. M. Bells most detailed publication on the Wolvercote deposits was published in 1904 in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. Full reference: Bell, A.M. 1904. 'Implementiferous Sections at Wolvercote (Oxfordshire)'. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 60: 120-132. This paper can be accessed online through the Geological Societies Lyell Collection. The URL is http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/1-4/120. [MN 05/06/2009]
The Oxford University Museum of Natural History also holds a considerable number of geological specimens collected by Bell from Wolvercote, see: Q.00285 - Q.00378, Q.00829 - Q.00909 and Q.01758 - Q.01763. The OUMNH catalogue can be accessed online at http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/database/geology/pleicene.htm. [MN 05/06/2009]
The Wolvercote Brick Pit [SP 4977 1043, now a lake] from which this object was recovered is recorded on the English Heritage maintained National Monuments Record under monument no. 336734. This record can be accessed online at http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=336734. [MN 05/06/2009]
This object was studied by Hyeong Woo Lee as part of his doctoral dissertation submitted in 2000, entitled A Study of Lower Palaeolithic Stone Artefacts from Selected Sites in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley, with Particular Reference to the R.J.MacRae Collection. Lee numbered each object according to his own system, with objects labelled with a small, round red sticker. This sticker was removed when numbered. This tool was numbered by Lee '58' [AS 03/02/2011].
This object was examined by Joyce Tyldesley for her PhD published with B.A.R. in 1986. See publications list below. [AS 21/07/2011]
Thirty-four handaxes from Wolvercote in the PRM's collections formed one of the datasets discussed in 'A Re-Examination of Variability in Handaxe Form in the British Palaeolithic', by Kate Emery (London: University College London, Ph.D. thesis, 2010). (Available online at http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19299/1/19299.pdf .) [JC 5 5 2017]
- Associated publications
- Described on page 40 and illustrated (Figure 2.24) on page 41 of The Wolvercote Channel Handaxe Assemblage: A Comparative Study, by Joyce A. Tyldesley (BAR British Series 153), Oxford: B.A.R. (1986). Tyldesley writes (page 40): '(24) Figure 2.24* (Pitt Rivers Museum) L 120mm, B 100mm, T 41mm, W 420g. An unrolled handaxe which has suffered both ancient and modern damage along its edges. It is made from a very cherty flint (not used for any of the other bifaces), and does not have a "typical" Wolvercote outline shape or profile, being almost ovate in shape and relatively roughly worked. As this biface differs markedly in morphology, raw material and technology from the other Wolvercote Channel pieces, doubts may perhaps be raised about its correct place in the assemblage.' [AS 19/07/2011; JC 21 1 2015]
1921.91.473.3
Stone tool, crude cordate hand axe
1921.91.473.3
Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
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