Join experimental archaeologist and flintknapper, Dr. James Dilley as he explores the coast of Northern Ireland in search of suitable prehistoric axehead materials!

The Neolithic spread across Europe from the fertile crescent all the way to Britain and Ireland thousands of years after it first emerged. Some of the classic features of the Neolithic ‘package’ included ground/polished stone tools which in NW Europe is dominated by axe heads. Some of the well-known axe materials include flint from SE England, Langdale Tuff, Micro-diorite from North Wales, Cornish Greenstone and dolerite from the Whin Sill. But these are all lithic types from Britain, what was used in Ireland? And did it get further afield? James explores some of the materials along the Antrim coast to find out how it fitted into the Neolithic of Britain and Ireland.

*Porcellanite in Northern Ireland can only be found on private land and requires relevant permissions to be obtained. For the purposes of this video James is therefore demonstrating the same processes our Neolithic ancestors would have gone through to flake, shape and polish Porcellanite by using a piece of Antrim flint.

Filmed Edited & Produced by Emma Jones of ELWJ Media - www.elwjmedia.co.uk

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Papers:
THE PREHISTORIC ARTEFACTS OF NORTHERN IRELAND Harry and June Welsh

The Prehistoric Burial Sites of Northern Ireland - Harry & June Welsh
Sheridan, J.A. 1986 Porcellanite Artefacts: A New Survey. Ulster Journal of Archaeology vol 49 p19-32
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Waddell, J. (1993) The Irish Sea in Prehistory, The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Vol. 6, 29-40

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Journals:
Aimée Little, Annelou van Gijn, Tracy Collins, Gabriel Cooney, Ben Elliott, Bernard Gilhooly, Sophy Charlton, Graeme Warren. Stone Dead: Uncovering Early Mesolithic Mortuary Rites, Hermitage, Ireland. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 2016; 1 DOI: 10.1017/S0959774316000536

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