Soft Hammer ?

Hi Everyone,

This partial deer antler was found in some glacial river deposits in Lincolnshire does anyone think it may be Neolithic. 

Hi, welcome to the forum, sorry no idea, not my area but Mr Hertzian Cone may able to help on his next forum visit.

Thank you very much..I look forward to any information on this intriguing piece.

Hiya jb, intriguing it most certianly is! The cut end looks rather like a 90 degree cut with a saw, are there any parallel cut marks on that end? Or are they kinda erratic and concentric? It's a little hard to tell from the photo of the the end! That would help with dating an antler like this. Apart from that it does look old.
Also does the "crown" end (where it joins the skull) look worn in any way, any knapping will leave tell-tale marks on this end.... Enigmatic, I like it!

Hi there,

Thats great news ive a few more photos but will try and supply some more when I have the time.

I think that this bit of beast may be much later than prehistoric. The cut end looks like it's done with a metal saw and has been cut radially, and the crown end although worn by age hasn't any sign of knapping scars. It however could be of Medieval date at the earliest...
One thing is for certain it has been worked by man for a purpose obscure, maybe a handle for an iron implement?

I thought I had spotted metal saw marks but didn't rule out it being Bronze Age on that basis... although not earlier. There are all kinds of reasons why it might have been cut, including the possibility that this is what was left after the desired portion had been removed. We'll probably never know!

Good point! The reason I said Medieval is I had to illustrate one from a very soggy Medieval excavation, It looks very similar to your one!