"Once in a lifetime discovery": 6000 year old boulder found in West Dorset
Ancient stone artefact dubbed "rarer than Stonehenge" discovered in Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An extremely rare stone artefact dating back almost 6000 years has been found in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in West Dorset.
The polishing boulder – known as a polissoir - is one of only two in England to remain in its original position.
Jim Rylatt, Director of Archaeology at Past Participate, said: “I didn’t realise how rare they actually were! The last one was found in 1963, so you're looking at 2086 before the next one is likely to come around.
Discovered in the Valley of Stones National Nature Reserve, the boulder has a “dished glossy surface” where it was used to polish stone axe heads around 4000bc.
“It may not be as big or as pretty as Stonehenge, but it's much rarer in than a stone circle,” Mr Rylatt added.
This is a very rare discovery being only the second undisturbed polissoir found in its original position and although sarsen boulders are common across the south, very few are known to have been used for polishing stone tools.
Mr Rylatt told us how he made the discovery: “We were looking around the landscape at where we'd find sarsen stone and the obvious place to look was in ‘The Valley of Stones’ and we came across a boulder which had been modified.”
The area had recently been cleared of vegetation, revealing sarsens that had not been visible for decades and there it was Jim’s “once in a lifetime discovery.”
“This is effectively the beginning of modern Britain”
Stone axes were essential tools for farming and people of the Neolithic era needed them to clear woodland and build houses.
Axes were made of various raw materials such as flint, volcanic tuff and granite. For felling trees and working with timber, the stone axe heads would have been attached to a wooden handle, but this part of the tool very rarely survives.
There is evidence that many of these stone axes travelled widely in prehistoric times, whether they were traded as part of exchange systems or carried long distances by their owners.
Following the discovery of the polissoir, the immediate area around the stone has been subject to excavation and specialist analysis to see if any traces of the makers of the stone axes are still present.
Natural England will be working with Historic England and Past Participate to find out more about how people lived in, worked and shaped the historic landscape at the Valley of Stones for thousands of years.
Sasha Chapman, Inspector of Ancient Monuments at Historic England, said: “This is an exciting and rare discovery in this little understood historic landscape, which is giving us an opportunity to explore the use of the stone, and the communities who were using it.”