Unusual Stone Tools Uncovered in Wales

DENBIGHSHIRE, WALES—According to a report in Live Science, members of the Clwydian Range Archaeological Group, a team of amateur researchers led by professional archaeologists, have uncovered about 20 unusual stone tools at a Bronze Age site in the hills of northeast Wales. The heavily used tools are triangular in shape and range in size from about two inches to eight inches long. Consulting archaeologist Ian Brooks says they appear to have been deliberately buried in what was the bottom of a stream some 4,500 years ago. “I’ve not seen anything like them before, and I’ve talked to a number of colleagues who’ve never seen anything like them,” Brooks said. He explained that the tools’ purpose is unknown, but the battered points on the hard limestone tools could have been used to chip ornamental designs onto the surfaces of boulders and rock faces. “The point on these things would be about the right sort of size for pecking that sort of design,” he said. For more, go to “Letter From Wales: Hillforts of the Iron AgeHillforts of the Iron Age.”