4 December 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

Mesolithic stone mace head found during excavation of a site near Buckingham

Archaeologists discovered an attractive Mesolithic stone mace head while excavation of a site near Buckingham. The work was done by Cotswold Archaeology as part of the work for the HS2 project.

The quartzite pebble mace head discovered at the site is roughly oval in plan (105mm x 74mm x 40mm) with a central hourglass perforation (approximately 35mm-20mm in diameter). Both ends of the mace head exhibit light impact damage, suggestive of use as a percussive tool.

The object was hafted, as evidenced by minor wear at the narrow point of the central perforation. Small chip marks around the circumference of the central perforation suggest that it was made using a technique known as pecking, rather than having been drilled.

Unlike later Neolithic mace heads, which are worked to take a specific shape, these Mesolithic objects take the shape of the raw material. Similar pebble mace heads have been found in Britain, including Eton Rowing Lake in Berkshire and Oakhanger in Hampshire, and they are thought to date from the Mesolithic period.

Photo: Cotswold Archaeology

Mesolithic hunter-gatherer activity is thought to have been concentrated in resource-rich areas such as woodland and along watercourses, with recorded sites mostly located on dryer, rising ground. The site was in such a location, on a tributary of the River Great Ouse.

The mace head was found in a post-medieval quarry fill that had cut off a curving ditch. With the mace head coming from a truncated internal deposit, it’s possible that this ditch was once part of a prehistoric ring ditch.

Using aerial photography, two more ring ditches, possibly representing Bronze Age round barrows, have been identified nearby, and two more ring ditches, as well as Bronze Age cremation burials, are known from the surrounding area.

Cotswold Archaeology

Related Articles

Flying reptile discovered in Scotland dubbed ‘Jurassic fighter jet’

24 February 2022

24 February 2022

The jawbone of a 170 million-year-old pterosaur, described as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, was discovered...

A Roman copper-alloy tiny tortoise figurine found in Suffolk

3 December 2023

3 December 2023

In July last year, a small Roman copper alloy tortoise or turtle figurine was discovered by metal detectors near the...

Cosmic cataclysm 1,500 years ago may have caused downfall of the Hopewell Culture

3 February 2022

3 February 2022

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati find evidence of cosmic cataclysm 1,500 years ago at 11 ancient sites in three...

An Urartian fortress was discovered at an altitude of 3,300 meters in eastern Turkey

2 July 2022

2 July 2022

In the Gürpınar district of Van, located in eastern Turkey, a fortress ruin, which is considered to be used by...

Urartian graves in eastern Turkey pointing out novel burial traditions

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The excavations in Cavuştepe castle continue with the excavations in the necropolis this year. Two new tombs from the Urartian...

Archaeologists unearth the remains of three dozen headless people at a stone age settlement in Vráble, Slovakia

25 September 2022

25 September 2022

Archaeologists have unearthed a mass grave containing the remains of about three dozen headless bodies of people at a settlement...

Four 1,900-year-old Roman swords found in Judean Desert

6 September 2023

6 September 2023

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of four extremely well-preserved Roman swords hidden in a cave in the...

A Circular Structure Linked to the Cult of Kukulcán Discovered in Mexico

2 November 2023

2 November 2023

A team of researchers with the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has unearthed the remains of a...

A rare medieval Christogram Tattoo from Ghazali, Sudan

22 October 2023

22 October 2023

A Polish-Sudanese research team investigating the medieval African monastery of Ghazali discovered a rare medieval religious tattoo in a tomb...

Archaeologists have discovered the origins a Herefordshire Stone Age monument

22 August 2021

22 August 2021

Archaeologists have finally uncovered the mysterious origins of Arthur’s Stone, named after the mysterious legends of King Arthur, who inspired...

Jordan Valley Reveals Earliest Cotton Use in the Ancient Near East

18 December 2022

18 December 2022

During excavations at Tel Tsaf, a 7,000-year-old town in the Jordan Valley, Israeli archaeologists discovered the earliest evidence of cotton...

Researchers found similar descriptions in the Book of Revelation and ancient curse tablets

10 February 2023

10 February 2023

A research project headed by Dr. Michael Hölscher of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has uncovered that the book of...

The unknown importance of Göllü Dağ on the route of the first humans’ Transition from Africa to Europe

4 October 2021

4 October 2021

The researches conducted in Göllü Dağ and its surroundings, located within the borders of Niğde province in Central Anatolia, and...

Climate Change Negatively Impacts 45 000-year-old Cave Paintings in Indonesia

13 May 2021

13 May 2021

Cave paintings from 20,000 to 50,000 years ago in Indonesia are in danger of extinction due to climate change. Indonesia...

A rare statue of K’awiil, Mayan god of Lighting have uncovered in Mexico

1 May 2023

1 May 2023

In southeastern Mexico, archaeologists uncovered a rare sculpture of a powerful Mayan god near the path of a large-scale rail...