Object: Hoard (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Godshill, Isle of Wight, Isle of Wight (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Description: A hoard of Late Bronze Age metalwork, comprising of 40 fragments of copper alloy ingot and two fragments of copper alloy sword. Treasure case no. 2015 T64. See also: IOW-77CAC3.



Ingot fragments 



1. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 120.8mm; Width: 71.8; Thickness: 33.3; Weight: c. 969.0g;



2. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 100.6mm; Width: 89.4mm; Thickness: 29.6mm; Weight: c. 1080.0g;



3. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 128.4mm; Width: 68.2mm; Thickness: 37.9mm; Weight: c. 1196.0g;



4. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 119mm; Width: 117.8mm; Thickness: 28.8mm; Weight: 887g;



5. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 91.2mm; Width: 66.7mm; Thickness: 31.8mm; Weight c. 734.0g;



6. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 133.5; Width: 91.7mm; Thickness: 36.6mm; Weight: c. 1435.0g;



7. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 106.4mm; Width: 89.8mm; Thickness: 28mm; Weight: c. 1026.0g;



8. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 89.2; Width: 74.8mm; Thickness: 35.4mm; Weight: c. 764.0g;



9. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 91.7mm; Width: 83.4; Thickness: 27.9mm; Weight: c. 671.0g;



10. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 83mm; Width: 70.1mm; Thickness: 28.2mm; Weight: c. 458.0g;



11. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 87.3mm; Width: 50.9mm; Thickness: 33.8mm; Weight: c. 461.0g;



12. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 58.7mm; Width: 51.9mm; Thickness: 22.2mm; Weight: 183.42g;



13. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 75.6mm; Width: 57.5mm; Thickness: 22.8mm; Weight: 260.96g;



14. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 77.4mm; Width: 46.9mm; Thickness: 19.6mm; Weight: 276.61g;



15. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 71.9mm; Width: 44.9mm; Thickness: 25.4mm; Weight: 217.67g;



16. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 66.3mm; Width: 61.2mm; Thickness: 30.1mm; Weight: c. 549.0g;



17. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy 



Length: 56.2mm; Width: 39.9mm; Thickness: 30.7mm; Weight: 232.09g;



18. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 75.6; Width: 65.4mm; Thickness: 32.4mm; Weight: c. 480.0g;



19. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 65.2mm; Width: 54.3mm; Thickness: 30mm; Weight: c. 298.0g;



20. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 60.6mm; Width: 56.7 mm; Thickness: 20.9mm; Weight: 208.14g;



21. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 54.1mm; Width: 41.1mm; Thickness: 25.7mm; Weight: 263.38g;



22. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 59.2mm; Width: 39.2mm; Thickness: 28.7mm; Weight: 276.76g;



23. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 62.9mm; Width: 52.6mm; Thickness: 30.6mm; Weight: c. 350.0g;



24. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 52.2mm; Width: 46.8mm; Thickness: 24.7mm; Weight: 220.19g;



25. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 50.3mm; Width: 45.4mm; Thickness: 27.1mm; Weight: 218.19g;



26. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 70.1mm; Width: 46.7mm; Thickness: 31.2mm; Weight: c. 358.0g;



27. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 42.6mm; Width: 33.7mm; Thickness: 26.7mm; Weight: 147.41g;



28. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 54.8mm; Width: 40.7mm; Thickness: 20.3mm; Weight: 133.30g;



29. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 50.4mm; Width: 33mm; Thickness: 23.4mm; Weight: 174.39g;



30. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 40.3mm; Width: 38.4mm; Thickness: 27mm; Weight: 93.33g;



31. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 50.6mm; Width: 34.9mm; Thickness: 25.4mm; Weight: 127.49g;



32. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 58.8mm; Width: 45mm; Thickness: 27.8mm; Weight: 200.13g;



33. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 45.8mm; Width: 30.4mm; Thickness: 18.4mm; Weight: 73.41g;



34. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 39.7mm; Width: 31.4mm; Thickness: 14.7mm; Weight: 59.31g;



35. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 40.3mm; Width: 36.8mm; Thickness: 7.2mm; Weight: 78.91g;



36. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 45.8mm; Width: 24.3mm; Thickness: 19mm; Weight: 55.38g;



37. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 35.6mm; Width: 20.3mm; Thickness: 12.7mm; Weight: 25.10g;



38. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 34.3mm; Width: 33.8mm; Thickness: 15.7mm; Weight: 43.88g;



39. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 26.4mm; Width: 21.4mm; Thickness: 10.7mm; Weight: 17.74g;



40. Bun ingot fragment; copper alloy



Length: 30.3mm; Width: 21.1mm; Thickness: 18.6mm; Weight: 30.24g;



Sword blade fragments



41. Sword blade fragment



Probably from a Ewart Park type sword (Colquhoun & Burgess 1988, 55ff).



Length: 40.3mm; Width: 32.3mm; Thickness: 5.7mm; Weight: 35.31g;



42. Sword blade fragment



Probably from a Ewart Park type sword (Colquhoun & Burgess 1988, 55ff).



Length: 27.3mm; Width: 30.5mm; Thickness: 5.8mm; Weight: 20.63g;



Discussion: 



The two sword blade fragments are probably from Late Bronze Age Ewart Park type swords and are a very common feature of so-called 'scrap' or 'founders' hoards of Late Bronze Age, especially in Southern England (e.g. Needham 1990). Fragments of ingot are also a regular feature of hoards of Late Bronze Age date, however, 'complete' plano-convex ingots of the type represented by No. 4 are rare but they are known from the assemblage of copper alloy and tin ingots associated with a probable Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Salcombe, Devon (e.g. British Museum 2010, 8032.1 and 2010, 8032.191) and from the Late Bronze Age carp's tongue complex hoard consisting of 352 objects from Boughton Malherbe, Kent (Treasure case 2011 T464).



Conclusion: 



Due to their age and number, this find qualifies as a prehistoric base-metal assemblage and Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996, (Designation) Order 2002.



Bibliography



Colquhoun, I. & Burgess, C.B. 1988. The Swords of Britain (Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV.5). Munich: Beck.



Needham, S.P. 1990. The Petters Late Bronze Age Metalwork: an Analytical Study of Thames Valley Metalworking in a Settlement Context. London: British Museum Occasional Paper 70
Notes: Due to their age and number, this find qualifies as a prehistoric base-metal assemblage and Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996, (Designation) Order 2002.
Subsequent action: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure