Celt c. 500 - 750

This celt was carved out of stone by an unknown artist at an unknown time. The celt is an axe head and depicts a face at the top, and what looks like a house at the center. A celt is a prehistoric tool with a beveled cutting edge. These were used for woodworking and were usually made of stone or bronze. Stone celts such as this one date back as far as the Paleolithic period and as recently as the Neolithic period. The meaning of the face and house is unknown, but it seems likely that they held some kind of social, cultural, or religious importance within its society. Was this celt a marker of status? Did it have a function in ritual? Art historians can examine the material culture from the period to speculate about its meaning, bearing in mind that there is much we cannot know. This celt is a reminder that our understanding of history and culture is always evolving.