Stone age ax discovered by five-year-old girl

Lisa Dennemann with her discovery, photo by Ecomare

Translated from Ecomare museum on Texel island in the Netherlands:

Antlers made into ax found – 22-06-16

A very special find on the Texel beach. The 5-year-old German girl Lisa Dennemann discovered at beach post 17 an old piece of a red deer antler. The special thing about the discovery is that the antlers have been worked on. Some 3,000 to 9,000 years ago someone made them into an ax head. It is a tool from prehistory. The ax is from the Mesolithic or Neolithic, the time of the hunter-gatherers. They hunted here, including red deer.

Made with flint

The antler ax is made of the lower piece of an antler of a deer, with a round hole between eye branch and another branch of the antlers. This hole was for the stem of the ax. This piercing was made with a flint tool. The bezel was made by scraping it against a flat stone. Experts call this type of ax a type A basic ax …

Rare

This type of ax has been found throughout northwestern Europe, including Denmark, Germany, Austria, Belgium, England and the Netherlands. From the provincial depot for archeology of North Holland two such axes are known. We are delighted that Lisa Dennemann wanted to give us her rare find, because it is important for research into the history of the inhabitants of that ancient time!

The antlers ax is exhibited now in Ecomare.