The Border of Farming and the Cultural Markers - Nordlige Verdener

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Fig. 5: Plan and section of galleries 1 and 2,
Brockley. Drawing: Conor Brady
Galleries 1 and 2 resemble the primary
extraction sites at Top Buttress, Pike of
Stickle, Great Langdale in Cumbria.
These were excavated (Bradley and Edmonds
1993) as part of the project to understand
the process of Neolithic extraction
of volcanic tuff for the production
of Group VI axes, the single most important
stone source for axeheads in Britain.
While there has been no excavation
at Brockley itself, it is clear from the evidence
of porcellanite objects that the
primary purpose of quarrying was the
production of roughouts for stone axeheads.
Flaking was the predominant primary
treatment, with minor evidence of
pecking and cleaving (Cooney and Mandal
1998: 60).
extraction sites (galleries 1 and 2; Figs.
4 and 5), some 5 m apart, are visible
where rock extraction has created clear
overhangs. They face almost due south
and are clearly the result of quarrying
the lowest part of the porcellanite outcrop.
Conchoidal fracture scars can be
seen on the roofs and sides of both. Fifteen
metres to the north-east of gallery 1
is what appears to be an almost completely
infilled quarry area (gallery 3).
The most widely occurring evidence for
the process of axe production comes
from the very large number of porcellanite
roughouts in museums and other collections.
Analysis of the Irish Stone Axe
Project (ISAP) database suggests that
there are a number of recurring roughout
types. A feature that should be noted
is the relatively high percentage of
porcellanite axeheads with obliqueshaped
butts. While some 9% of Irish
stone axeheads in general have this
form of butt, the figure rises to 16% for
those of porcellanite (Cooney and Man-