JOIN TODAY
JOIN TODAY

Neolithic Tridents Discovered

News December 6, 2013

(© Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust)
SHARE:

Neolithic-wooden-trident
(© Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust)
CARLISLE, ENGLAND—Two wooden tridents from the Neolithic era have been discovered in an extinct river channel in northern England and are set to go on display at the Tullie House Musem. Measuring six feet long, the tridents were made with stone tools from a single oak plank. Carbon dating of the artifacts shows they are between 5,900 and 5,400 years old, an era when farming first began to be practiced in the area. The tridents could have had an agricultural use, but might have also been used for hunting or fishing. Only four other wooden tridents have been found in the UK, all of which were discovered in the 19th century. 

 

Recommended Articles

Off the Grid January/February 2025

Tzintzuntzan, Mexico

Read Article
Enrique/AdobeStock

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

Bad Moon Rising

Read Article
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

100-Foot Enigma

Read Article
George E. Koronaios/Wikimedia Commons

Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025

Colonial Companions

Read Article
NadiaPera/AdobeStock

More to Discover

Features November/December 2013

Ancient Tattoos

Read Article

  • Features November/December 2013

    Life on the Inside

    Open for only six weeks toward the end of the Civil War, Camp Lawton preserves a record of wartime prison life

    Read Article
    (Virginia Historical Society, Mss5.1.Sn237.1v.6p.139)

  • Features November/December 2013

    Vengeance on the Vikings

    Mass burials in England attest to a turbulent time, and perhaps a notorious medieval massacre

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Thames Valley Archaeological Services)

  • Letter from Bangladesh November/December 2013

    A Family's Passion

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Reema Islam)

  • Artifacts November/December 2013

    Moche Ceremonial Shield

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Lisa Trever, University of California, Berkeley)