<< News >> Stone me! Jak's rock is 4,000-year-old axe
Submitted by PaulM on Saturday, 27 November 2004 Page Views: 4839
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When Jak MacDonald picked up a pebble on a beach, he had no idea he was holding an artefact shaped by a Stone Age craftsman 4,000 years ago. The six-year-old, from Broughton Astley, stumbled upon a neolithic axe head while on holiday in Pembrokeshire.
Jak was looking for pebbles to skim in the sea when he came across the flat stone.
He was about to try it out when his mum's partner noticed the unusual shape.
They took their discovery to Leicester's New Walk museum, where staff contacted Leicestershire's archaeological department.
This week, Jak found out his prized skimming stone was an axe head crafted before 2000BC.
Jak, a pupil at Old Mill Primary School, in Broughton Astley, said: "It's a good job I didn't skim it. It would have gone for miles, but I'm glad I kept it.
"All the other stones were round but this one was really flat.
"I fell on the floor when mum told me what it was.
"I'm going to look for more. It would be good if I could find a bit of a dinosaur next time."
Jak's mum, Jo Platt, 27, said she was shocked by her son's discovery.
She said: "I couldn't believe it when we found out what it was. I've always been fascinated by fossils, so this was such a good find.
"Jak's over the moon about it. He loves anything to do with history. My partner Nick and I are really proud of him."
Jak showed off his stone at an assembly at his school yesterday.
He also spent the day visiting each class to let fellow pupils take a closer look at the piece of prehistory, which his mum has placed in a wooden case.
Class teacher Alison Dovey said: "I was absolutely amazed when I found out. It's just so exciting.
"We told Jak in assembly that famous people go on tour, so we've let him go on a tour of the school to show other pupils what he had found."
Wendy Scott, finds liaison officer for Leicestershire County Council, examined the axe head after it was sent to her from New Walk museum.
She said: "It just goes to show how easy it is to stumble across archaeology.
"I'm not 100 per cent sure, but it's the right shape for an axe head from the neolithic.
"It's probably made of a hard stone such as granite. These small axes would have been for a range of activities, including chopping down trees."
Ms Scott said although the piece was probably not worth a great deal financially, it was important historically.
She said: "We are happy to have seen it and recorded it. Jak found it, though, so he should be able to keep it in his family."
Source: This Is Leicestershire 27 November 2004