Late Bronze Age stone axe with a wooden haft from Nagļi (eastern Latvia)

Abstract

In 2022, a simple shaft­hole stone axe was found in the village of Nagļi, Rēzekne district in eastern Latvia. In contrast to hundreds of other simple shaft­hole axes, this specimen – representing the so­called almond­shaped type – is distinguished by the fragment of a wooden haft preserved in the shaft hole. This provided a unique opportunity to date the axe: the Nagļi artefact is only the second Bronze Age shaft­hole stone axe that has been directly radiocarbon­ dated in the eastern Baltic area. The result, 780–540 cal BC, confirms the typochronological conclusion that almond­shaped axes were used in Latvia in the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC). However, it cannot confirm or refute their continued use in the Pre­Roman Iron Age (500–1 BC). Analysis of the haft revealed that it was made of oak (Quercus sp.), distinguishing it from previously analysed Bronze Age stone and metal axes in the eastern Baltic region, where ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) was often used.

Keywords

• simple shaft­hole axes
• radiocarbon dating
• tree species analysis
• late bronze age
• latvia