Set of five Neolithic flint axes. Denmark, ca. 2500 BC.

Set of five Neolithic flint axes. Denmark, ca. 2500 BC.
Flint.
Mounted on supports.
Provenance: Collection of Peter Sørensen Petersen (1882-1964), Slotsgartner (castle gardener). They were found in the interwar period in West and South Seland and Fynland (Denmark).
Measurements: 24 cm, 20 cm, 19 cm, 14.5 cm and 12.5 cm high.

Representative set of flint polished axes from the Scandinavian Neolithic, one of the most characteristic and technically refined productions of prehistoric Europe. The pieces present elongated and carefully regularized profiles, with surfaces worked by carving and partial polishing, showing a high degree of technical specialization in the treatment of this material. Their typology responds both to practical functions -mainly linked to forestry exploitation- and to a possible symbolic or prestige value within the Neolithic communities.

Flint, abundant in Denmark, allowed the development of high quality production centers, being these axes key elements in the economy and daily life of the period. The documented provenance, linked to finds made during the interwar period and preserved in a particular historical collection, adds interest to the set, placing it within the first dynamics of collection and study of archaeological heritage in the Nordic area.