1921.91.473.27

Collection type

Object

Description

Stone tool, ovate hand axe

Long description

'An unrolled almost ovate flint biface in virtually mint condition but with a mechanical break on the butt. It has a plano-convex profile but it does not have a typical Wolvercote planform-shape. There is a patch of cortex on the butt of the implement.' (From page 64 of The Wolvercote Channel Handaxe Assemblage: A Comparative Study, by Joyce A. Tyldesley (BAR British Series 153), Oxford: B.A.R. (1986).) [AS 20/07/2011; JC 15 1 2015]

Geographical reference

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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

1898

Acquisition information

Purchased: 1920

Materials and processes

Material Stone, Process Flaked

Dimensions

Width: max 75 mm, Length: max 95 mm, Weight 145 g

Object numbers

Accession number: 1921.91.473.27

Research and responses

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 '56' [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 64 and illustrated (Figure 2.60) on page 65 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 64): '(60) Figure 2.60* (Pitt Rivers Museum) L 83mm, (B 66mm, T 26mm W 140g). An unrolled almost ovate flint biface in virtually mint condition but with a mechanical break on the butt. It has a plano-convex profile but it does not have a typical Wolvercote planform-shape. There is a patch of cortex on the butt of the implement.' [AS 19/07/2011; JC 15 1 2015]

Search terms: Tool, Hand-axe