Petrological identification of stone implements from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland

Abstract

Plans for the petrological examination of stone axes from Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire (C.B.A. Group 14) were initiated in 1946, when Mr F. T. Baker, now Director of the City of Lincoln Libraries, Museum and Art Gallery, agreed to become local secretary to the survey. Professor W. D. Evans (now Lord Energlyn), Head of the Geology Department at Nottingham University, undertook the petrological side of the work, and the thin sections were cut by Mr R. D. Hendry, Chief Technician to the Department. By 1962 about 120 sections had been cut and these were sent to Dr F. S. Wallis and Mr E. D. Evens, who found that a large proportion of them could be assigned to already established groups. During the next few years, the number of axes sectioned rose to 180. In 1968 Dr W. A. Cummins took over the petrological work and in 1970 Mr C. N. Moore became the local secretary. Since 1969, the sections have been cut by Mr J. Blount at Imperial College, London.The present report is based on 422 stone axes from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. This total includes nearly all the axes in local museums within the area, as well as the relevant axes from the British Museum and a considerable number from private collections. The only local museum collections not included are those at Louth, Stamford and the Spalding Gentlemen's Society. In view of this, it is considered that the report gives a fairly representative coverage of the axes found in the area. A breakdown of this coverage is given in Table 1.