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Rare Bronze Age axe unearthed

Men working on a peat bank in Orphir have unearthed an “outstanding” example of a late Bronze Age socketed axe – believed to be only the second found in Orkney to date.

The find is particularly exciting, given the comparative scarcity of Bronze Age artefacts in the county.

Michael Watt discovered the 3,000-year-old axe head while spreading peats at the Highland Park's Hobbister peat bank. The distillery uses the peats, which are mechanically extracted each spring and manually spread to dry over the summer, to dry the barley used in its whisky.

Read entire article at Orkneyjar