At the beginning of the Mesolithic period people started to make adzes and picks for chopping or working wood. The introduction of these new tools might be linked to the increase in woodland that occurred at the end of the last Ice Age. They could have been used to make clearances in the thick forest cover and to make other tools of wood.

The tools are made by flaking blocks of stone on two sides to form an elongated, thick tool with a sharp edge at one end. The sharp edge was sometimes made by removing a single flake from across the working end, a technique that could also be used for resharpening. These particular tools are called ‘tranchet’ adzes. Adzes vary from crude, rough examples to fine, elegant pieces. Picks tend to be crude in form and are triangular in cross-section with a more pointed tip.

The Isle of Portland, Dorset, was a major production centre for adzes and picks, as it is a good source of chert (a stone similar to flint) and limestone. Adzes and picks made from these materials are found both on nearby sites and further afield. Fine Portland chert is found up to 240 kilometres from the Isle, suggesting that it was traded.