Stonehenge Dagger

Fine flint dagger, known as the Stonehenge dagger, dating to the early Bronze Age, about 2,300 –2,000 BC. The dagger is a masterpiece of flint-working and is similar in shape to daggers made of copper or bronze. These high quality flint daggers require just as much skill and expertise to make as metal daggers, and this would have had a handle made of wood that has rotted away. The dagger was found in a barrow that lies close to the Cursus and within sight of Stonehenge. It was excavated 200 years ago and discovered in the grave of a man lying on his side in a crouched position, perhaps as if asleep or in a foetal position ready for rebirth into a new life. At his feet was a distinctive pottery beaker and a polished piece of stone used for working metal. This burial was the earliest of three burials that were discovered, one was the burial of a woman with a necklace made of amber and faience beads. Caption: David Dawson (Wiltshire Museum)