Category: Shaft hole axe

Shaft hole axe B10999

Shaft hole axe with decoration. Long and slender axe with conical butt; the edge is curved. The edge is damaged and a hole or cavity is visible. Ribs run from the shaft hole to the edge decorated with two parallel lines. The blade has no other decoration, while the side facets have a row of nine spirals starting in the pattern below the shaft holes. There are groups of transverse parallel lines interspersed with vertical lines between the shaft holes, and there is a similar pattern of horizontal and vertical lines below the shaft hole. The neck has two sections of intersecting lines, separated by transverse parallel lines, and there are transverse lines below the collar. There are two ribs decorated with vertical parallel lines below the neck collar, and on top there are vertical and horizontal lines and two rows of triangles. The conical butt has horizontal and striped lines, and in the middle there is a small pin, which has horizontal and vertical lines. The shaft hole is somewhat damaged, and ends in ribs decorated with oblique lines. The upper part of the hole has striped lines, while the lower part has none. The brown patina has partially dissolved. Length: 24.5 cm Width: 6.3 cm above the edge Weight: 961 g

Photo: Adnan Icagic © University Museum in Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Location:
Lunde, Vindafjord (formerly Ølen), Rogaland

Context:
Found in a water spring, «Slettakjelda», near a landslide, where two other axes were also found B10300/a-b during work at the water spring. The ax was found during the completion of a water pipe. It is likely that the three axes were laid down together, although this cannot be determined.

Date:
Early Bronze Age period 2

Shaft hole axe B7364

Foto: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Massive shaft hole axe B7364. It is long and slender, the edge is curved, and there are marked grooves from the shaft hole to the egg. It has a short stem tube; the neck is round and has a flat collar. There is a raised rib on both card sides. Dark brown patina, much of which was dissolved when the ax was found; some were also removed by the finder in an attempt to polish the axe, especially on the broadsides. There are golden spots where it has been polished. Despite this, the decoration is still visible. About 1 cm from the edge there is a set of three parallel lines, then a border of running spirals and another set of parallel four or five parallel lines, starting and ending at the first and last spirals in the border below. There are possibly more lines below the spirals. This decoration is identical on both sides of the blade. The raised areas on both card sides were flanked by a line and a faint pattern of triangles. There is a triangular area of ​​decoration below each shaft hole, consisting of parallel lines and beads. The shaft tubes were decorated with parallel lines and one tube also had a pattern of triangles. The neck was decorated with spiral borders with a line pattern and pearls below, between and above the spirals. The collar has a wave pattern below and lines and pearls on top. The neck would have had a line and bead pattern, indicated by the remaining patina around the collar. There are three identical parallels in Scandinavia: an ax from Nibstrup Mose, Denmark; from Villie, Scania, Sweden; from Lundby, Slöinge, Sweden. The ax is also similar to Montelius: Minnen fig. 866, 870 and 873. Johansen’s type C. Length: 34.5 cm, Width: 12.8 cm above the edge, Weight: 2248 g.

Context:
Found in or near a body of water in 1922 in connection with ditch digging; The ax was found in clay under approx. 1 m of soil in a marshy area. Water gushed up when it was found. The clay was blue with irr. The location is a field that slopes east towards a small water, Rimbareidjørna, between the seat house and a chapel; approx. 40 m from the chapel. There is a spring to the south of the discovery site. The archaeologist Johs Bøe visited the site shortly after the ax was discovered, but the ditch had then been filled in and the field sown.

Location:
Rimbareid (gnr. 62/3), Fitjar Hordaland

Date:
Such axes are dated to the Early Bronze Age Period 2.

Two shaft hole axes B10300

Photo: Adnan Icagic © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Shaft hole axe with decoration, (B10300/a). Long and slender axe with a conical neck. The axe is hollow. There is decoration on the blade, around and between the shaft holes, and on the neck and neck. The blade has three rows of running spirals near the edge. Two parallel lines run along the sides of the blade. There are parallel lines and triangles/zigzags under the shaft hole. There are three rows of three spirals each between the shaft hole on the broad side of the axe. The neck has a pattern of transverse parallel lines and zigzag below and above a row of running spirals. The neck is decorated with parallel lines, zigzags and oblique lines, while the top of the collar has lines and zigzags. The brown patina has disintegrated in several places. Length: 29 cm Width: 6.8 cm above the edge Weight: 939 g

Shaft hole axe with decoration, (B10300/b). The axe is broken at the shaft hole and the neck is missing. Unlike the other axe, this ax is massive. The blade is narrower than B10300/a, and has grooves from the shaft hole to the curved edge. There is decoration on the blade, the sides and around the shaft hole. The blade has transverse parallel lines and bead-like decoration about 2 cm from the edge, followed by a set of six interlocking spirals in two rows, a set of four interlocking spirals in two rows, then a vertical row of five spirals ending at the shaft hole. There are vertical ribs in relief between the shaft holes. Below the shaft holes and along the side facets are parallel lines and beads, which «frame» the side facets. There is also a line pattern on a preserved fragment of the rim of the shaft hole. The brown patina has dissolved and little has been preserved. Length: 21.1 cm Width: 7 cm above the edge Weight: 1030g

Location:
Lunde, Vindafjord (formerly Ølen), Rogaland

Context:
Found in a spring, «Slettakjelda», near a clock. Gravel was dug up and the axes were found in the gravel; it was at approx. 50 cm deep.

Date:
Early Bronze Age, period 2