A polished stone axe dating back 5,000 to 6,000 years was one of the most exciting finds unearthed during a test dig in Ulverston (England). The axe is thought to have been made in Langdale, a centre for Stone Age tool production in the English Lake District. Other prehistoric finds include a Bronze Age flint scraper, a burnt piece of flint blade and a fragment of another stone axe. The dig also revealed artefacts from other periods including a 16th century groat and various domestic items from the 19th century.
     Excavation of the test trench was undertaken as part of the Channel 4 Time Team dig at Sir John Barrow’s Cottage, and was a joint venture between Ulverston Heritage Centre and the Morecombe Bay Archaeological Society. Daniel Elsworth, director of the Heritage Centre and chairman of the Archaeological Society and co-director of the dig, said that the prehistoric finds suggested early activity on the site. However, centuries of digging and the actions of earthworms and roots had mixed up artefacts from different periods.

Source: www.megalithic.co.uk (3 July 2003)