Kuusamo moose head axe

The decorations on the axe are perplexingly sharp-edged. The moose ears are decorated with leaf ornaments and there is a line of small dots, like a string of pearls, on the muzzle. The underside of the neck is ornamented with a fishbone pattern. Having spent thousands of years at the mercy of frost and fluctuating water levels, the stone axe is amazingly well preserved. The reddish-brown spots on the back and ears are due to the iron content of the stone. The fresh crack in the muzzle reveals the lightness of the quartzite.