Wooden Handle Found Intact on 5,500-Year-Old Stone Ax
An archaeological survey of sites for an undersea tunnel project in southern Denmark has turned up a stunning find: a 5,500-year-old stone ax with the wooden handle still intact. The ax was found embedded in a layer of clay that preserved the wood over the millennia, said archeologists with the Museum Lolland-Falster. Søren Anker Sørensen, an archaeologist at the museum, said in a press release that the excavation also uncovered a paddle, two bows and 14 ax shafts, jammed into the ground as part of a ritual offering at what was the sea’s edge during the Stone Age. “When we suddenly realized that we had actually found most of a complete hafted ax, stuck 30 cm (11.8 inches) down into the seabed, we knew that this was a very special find," he said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/wooden-handle-found-intact-5-500-year-old-stone-ax-n256226