Hammerstone
Object
Archaeology
Production date
9600BC-4000BC
Object number
1991.719
Physical Description
Mesolithic, quartzite stone, oval, central indentations each side.
Object history
The hollows on both sides suggest how this was gripped for use as a ‘hammer stone’. This could have been used to crack hazelnuts gathered from trees and shrubs. This rich source of protein could be eaten by roasting whole or grounding down into a flour to make bread or gruel.
This was part of a Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) assemblage found by Joseph Exhall Greenhill, Principal of Vermont College, Clapton near Hackney Brook. See Transactions of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society. Volume 20. (1961)
This was part of a Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) assemblage found by Joseph Exhall Greenhill, Principal of Vermont College, Clapton near Hackney Brook. See Transactions of the London & Middlesex Archaeological Society. Volume 20. (1961)
Associated Event
Dimension
Length: 80mm
Width: 60mm
Depth: 20mm
Width: 60mm
Depth: 20mm
Exhibition Label
From ‘Hackney 300,000 BC: Meet the Neanderthal neighbours and curious creatures of the borough's Old Stone Age’
Hackney Brook
The Hackney Brook is a now covered river that once ran from Stoke Newington Common, past Hackney Downs, to near where Hackney Central railway bridge crosses Mare Street.
In the 1880s a preserved Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) site was found at the brook. This revealed a range of tools and technologies of the time period.
Hackney Brook
The Hackney Brook is a now covered river that once ran from Stoke Newington Common, past Hackney Downs, to near where Hackney Central railway bridge crosses Mare Street.
In the 1880s a preserved Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) site was found at the brook. This revealed a range of tools and technologies of the time period.
On display?
No