A flint axe over 4,000 years old was the cream of a crop of discoveries during a two year archaeological investigation into the past of the Olympic Park. Archaeologists believe the unfinished prehistoric axe was placed in waterlogged ground on purpose, giving a unique insight into the first eastenders that lived and hunted in the area.
In the UK’s largest ever archaeological investigation over 140 trenches were dug on the 2.5sq km Olympic Park ahead of the ‘big build’ of the venues and infrastructure for London 2012.
Archaeological finds around the Park site include four prehistoric skeletons buried in graves around an area of Iron Age settlement, a Roman coin, Roman river walls, medieval and Neolithic pottery, Second World War gun emplacements and a complete 19th century boat used for hunting wild fowl on the lower River Lea.