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The Langdale axe industry (or factory) is the name given by archaeologists to a Neolithic centre of specialised stone tool production in the Great Langdale area of the English Lake District. [1] The existence of the site, which dates from around 4,000–3,500 BC, [ 2 ] was suggested by chance discoveries in the 1930s.
The factory was set up here because of a vein of greenstone, a very hard volcanic rock, which comes to the surface around the head of the valley. Evidence of axe manufacture have been found in many areas of Great Langdale but it is the screes of Pike of Stickle which have yielded the most discoveries.
A Neolithic stone axe from Cumbria, now in the British Museum. [2] Fell was interested in the analysis of individual axes. [3] In 1949 she worked on Grahame Clark's excavations at the Star Carr Mesolithic site in Yorkshire. Around the same time she began studying the Langdale axe industry in Cumbria, the project for which she is perhaps best ...
This is probably due to the area's proximity to the so-called 'Langdale Axe Factory'. Many of the axes seem to have been intentionally deposited in waterlogged areas, or in fissures in rocks. [34] In Cumbria the majority of axe heads originating from Langdale have been found on the Furness Peninsula. [35] Castlerigg Stone Circle
The Langdale Pikes and the Langdale Boulders, Great Langdale. Among the best-known features of Great Langdale are the Langdale Pikes, a group of peaks on the northern side of the dale. From below, they appear as a sharp rocky ridge, though they are precipitous only on their southern side; to the north, the land sweeps gently to High Raise , the ...
By contrast, Neolithic axeheads from the Langdale axe industry were recognised as a type well before the centre at Great Langdale was identified by finds of debitage and other remains of the production, and confirmed by petrography (geological analysis). The stone was quarried and rough axe heads were produced there, to be more finely worked ...
The greenstone industry was important in the English Lake District, and is known as the Langdale axe industry. Ground stone implements included adzes , celts , and axes , which were manufactured using a labour-intensive, time-consuming method of repeated grinding against an abrasive stone, often using water as a lubricant.
The original motives behind the construction of Castlerigg, its subsequent uses, and how these may have changed over time are not known. Current thinking has linked Castlerigg with the Neolithic Langdale axe industry in the nearby Langdale fells: the circle may have been a meeting place where these axes were traded or exchanged. Ritually ...