The wooden handle of a stone hammer-axe from the Eneolithic pile-dwelling settlement Stare gmajne near Verd in the Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia

Abstract

A stone hammer-axe from the second half of the 4th millennium BC was excavated at the pile dwelling Stare gmajne in the Ljubljansko barje, Slovenia. The axe had a preserved part of the wooden handle which is rare. Exact wood identification was important because the axe was made of imported stone that can not be found in Slovenia. We found out that the handle was made of cornel (Cornus sp.) that possibly grew in the vicinity of the pile dwelling. The cornel wood is hard, and has excellent mechanical properties including high impact strength; therefore it was an excellent material for the handle. This confirms that the prehistoric men had good knowledge of the wood properties. We discuss the importance of reference material (microscopic slides and samples of wood from modern trees and bushes) to differentiate the wood of cornel which has similar wood anatomy to that of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens). The boxwood as a Mediterranean species in prehistoric time supposedly did not grow in the vicinity of the pile dwelling where the axe was found