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Here's an interesting story - archaeologists have discovered the remains of a timber trackway near Belmarsh prison in London, with a carbon date of 6000BP (before present).
Buried in the report is a yet more interesting bit...
Diccon Hart, the archaeologist who lead the excavation, says the wetlands next to the Thames were an important source of food in prehistoric times and that trackways made it easier for people to cross the terrains.
His team also found a piece of log with unusually well-preserved tool marks made by a metal axe (emphasis added).
So that's a 6000 year old metal axe then? Or was the wood already ancient when the trackway was made?
But I want to know more about this axe... the tantalising statement in this lamentably short populist bit of journalism suggests the use of metal tools during the mid Neolithic period, which is a pretty good story in itself.
Thanks... Looks like the NS site is having problems ATM so will look later. I guess it's still too fresh a find to have a range of academic responses yet... and in a way a pity about the later dating of the axe ;-)