50 Stone Age Finds

Flint and stone finds hold a unique place in the archaeological record as they represent all that survives from most of the human past. The Stone Age did not end with the introduction of metals and some of the finest lithic objects date from the Bronze Age and the use of flint and stone has continued into recent times. These items can have a strange, gem-like quality – 500,000-year-old flint hand axes, recorded by the PAS, show a symmetry and grace that we can still admire today. Great skill and effort went into making flint and stone objects and how they were produced is examined here. Humanly worked flints are surprisingly common and, in fact, they are found everywhere. This book gives guidance on what to look for and how to recognise worked flint. It shows what can be commonly found along with superb objects recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Flint and stone implements should be seen in context and supporting text and images will show something of the cultures that produced this material and how we came to discover them.

Author Biography

While Dr Kevin Leahy is National Finds Adviser for Early Medieval Metalwork with the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme, he also covers finds of flint and stone. Prior to joining the PAS in 2007 he was, for twenty-nine years, the archaeologist at the North Lincolnshire Museum in Scunthorpe, which is noted for the size and quality of its lithic collections.