Wick Harbour
Battleaxe
Site Name Wick Harbour
Classification Battleaxe
Alternative Name(s) Wic 173; Wick River; North Quay
Canmore ID 9142
Site Number ND35SE 13
NGR ND 368 508
NGR Description ND c. 368 508
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/9142
- Council Highland
- Parish Wick
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
ND35SE 13 c. 368 508
(Area: ND 368 508). Stone axe-hammer of basalt, 4 3/8 inches in length, 2 3/4 inch in greatest breadth, and 2 inches in greatest thickness opposite the shaft-hole in the centre. The form is not a common one in Scotland. It was found in the bed of the estuary of the river of Wick, near the back of the North Quay, a good many years ago.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1895.
A basalt axe-hammer, dredged up in Wick Harbour from the bed of the estuary of the Wick River, near the back of the North Quay, was donated to the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS) in 1928 by Dr J C Simpson (Accession no: AH 175). It has deep semicircular indentations on the top and bottom edges, measuring 4 3/8ins long, 2 13/16ins deep and 2 1/16ins thick; the perforation is bi-conical and measures 9/16ins diameter at the centre.
Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1928.
No further information was obtained during field investigation.
Visited by OS (W D J) 20 April 1962.
Reclassified as battle-axe.
F E S Roe 1966.
This battle-axe is of Northern Variant form with extreme expansion of the blade. It has been petrologically identified as amphibolite.
T H McK Clough and W A Cummins 1988.
