It is impossible to source axes such as these without a detailed petrological analysis of the rock. This would allow the original source of the rock to be established. However, the weathered colour of the tuff is typically similar to a number of axes in the collection of Kendal Museum and Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle, which have been petrographically tested as coming from the Langdale source (Group VI). Considering that this is a find from Northern England, Langdale seems to be the most likely source.

This rock type is formed from compressed volcanic ash and has a fine grained composition with infrequent crystalline inclusions. Tuff is found in Britain and Ireland in a band that runs down the Irish Sea from the Lake District (the Langdale's source Group VI), County Antrim (Ireland), through North Wales (Graig Lwyd Group VII), and into Cornwall and Devon (Groups XVI and IV respectively). Volcanic tuff is similar to flint in that it can be finely worked, ground and polished to form a variety of tools; however axes are the most common find type and were used across Northern Europe during the Neolithic period.