Battle axe from a Norse culture, Neolithic period, 2500-1700 BC. Stone. Provenance: private collection, Mèzières-lez-Cléry, France. Acquired by inheritance in 2022. In good state of preservation. Parallel. "A Nordic Dark Brown Stone Battle Axe", auctioned at Christie's in 2011, lot no. 6. Measurements: 19 x 5 x 5 x 5 cm. This lithic battle axe is boat-shaped, with its convex sides slightly swollen around the central hole, the latter intended for the fitting of a handle. It has been worked from a single block of carved and polished stone. Battle-axes of the Neolithic Norse cultures were used as combat weapons in the area of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Like the one we are now presenting for bidding, they were heavy and sturdy pieces, capable of dealing a heavy blow to the enemy. They were sometimes decorated with engravings and were used for hunting as well as for warfare. The archaeological discovery of lithic industry (stone tools) is a clear sign of human activity and progress. During the Neolithic period, the stone industry reached a high degree of skill and evolution (in fact, the very name "Neolithic" -new stone- responds to a new way of working stone, which will be polished as opposed to the carved stone of the Palaeolithic, a change that represented a real technological revolution). During the Neolithic period, sickles, hoes and axes such as the one we are now presenting began to be made, which helped in agricultural and livestock farming processes and to dominate the environment. As a result, peasant populations secured their livelihoods and were thus able to become sedentary.