dejp3/bronze-age-objects-pas huggingface dataset:
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1120)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Rhondda Cynon Taf (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 82.7 mm
Diameter: 9.47 mm
Weight: 16.7 g
Description: Bronze Age bronze socketed spearhead of Middle Bronze Age date, c. 1500-1150BC, probably Taunton-Penard metalworking phase, c.1400-1120 BC (following Needham et al. 1997).



The spearhead is of side-looped type and is near-complete, missing only the base of the socket and the side loops. The spearhead has a surviving length of 82.70mm. The socket tapers towards the blade and has a maximum surviving diameter of 9.47mm. The remnants of the upper attachment only of the side loops are evident on each side of the socket. The socket has an oval hole (24.82mm x 5.6mm) on one side; the hole is likely to be a casting problem, probably as result of a misaligned core, rather than subsequent damage. The blade is eroded (with a maximum width of 11.03mm) and is leaf- or flame-shaped. The end of the socket develops into a high mid-rib, which converges towards the tip and gives the blade a lozenge shaped section. The spearhead has lost much of the original surface and now has a dark brown patina, with some areas of bronze around the hole in the socket. The spearhead weighs 16.7g.
Notes: The spearhead can be paralleled with a number of examples recovered from Wales and beyond, including Cadoxton-Juxta-Neath (Neath Port Talbot) Llanerfyl (Powys) and Nantwnlle (Ceredigion) (Savory, 1980, Nos. 227, 229 and 337 respectively). The Cadoxton-Juxta-Neath and Llanerfyl examples are of Acton Park metal, while the Nantwnlle example is of Cemmaes metal (ibid.).



This spearhead has been published by Richard Davis (2012, 105, No.638, Pl.36) within his Group 6 Unclassified (developed side-looped).



Davis notes almost 500 Group 6 spearheads from across Britain dating to the Middle Bronze Age, which have a broad distribution. Davis' spearhead sub-types 6A, 6B and 6C are particularly prevalent across Wales, all of which have 'flame-shaped' blades, which might strengthen the idea that this spearhead originally had a flame-shaped blade, rather than a leaf-shaped blade.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 31.5 mm
Weight: 16.35 g
Description: A fragment of an unfinished Bronze Age socketed axehead. The corner fragment of the miscast mouth is all that survives with the casting gate still attached above it. The length of the fragment and gate is 31.5mm, the width is 29.1mm and the weight is 16.35g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Metal Working Debris (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 57 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight: 93.99 g
Description: A metalworking debris possibly of Bronze Age. Flat on the lower face, and partially covered by a yellow patina on the upper. Material: probably copper alloy.
Dimensions: length 57 mm, width 44 mm, thickness 13 mm. Weight 83.99 g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Elmbridge, Wychavon, Worcestershire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 32.23 mm
Thickness: 7.61 mm
Weight: 12.5 g
Description: Possible tip of a Bronze Age spearhead. The fragment that remains is an elongated trapezoidal shape in plan. The upper narrow edge is broken as the tip is missing. This break is not recent as the patina covers the break. The lower edge is also broken and again not recently. In section, at the upper edge it is a lozenge shape. This continues but the lozenge has slightly concave edges. A short portion of the socket is visible on one face of the spear. It is off-centre and therefore not positioned in the thickest portion of the spear. This damage may be due to miscasting or was later damage which revealed the fragile nature of the position of the socket. A waxy coating deposited in the socket, but this is probably a recent application. The surface of the spear has an incomplete heavy dark green patina. The spear measures 32.23mm long, 16.41mm wide and 7.61mm thick. It weighs 12.5g.

The heavy patina, and shape in section suggest this is a Bronze Age spearhead. However, as the majority of the object is missing which has the diagnostic features, such as side-loops missing the dating cannot be narrowed down further.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Razor (Bronze Age)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Description: Duplicate record. Please see NMS-01D7D8 for details of the find previously recorded here.
Object: Ring (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-1150 to 100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Berwick St. James, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Diameter: 25 mm
Weight: 12.63 g
Description: Possibly Late Bronze Age or Iron Age copper alloy ring, slightly damaged (a small chunk is missing). It is triangular in section, the inside surface being a smooth curve from one side to the other while the outside surface has a slight rib running around it.
It is 25mm in diameter (internal 12.8mm) and weighs 12.63g.
At least seven other examples of triangular-section rings with curved inner edges have been recorded from Wiltshire in the past few years. They are thought to date to the Late Iron Age period and possibly linked to harness. This example is rather chunkier and may date earlier or even slightly later, for example into Roman times.
Cf. WILT-ABDAB1, -0D8803, -A07DA7 for recent examples.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Knife (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1000 to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Chirton, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 15 mm
Thickness: 1 mm
Weight: 1.36 g
Description: A probable Bronze Age knife of the Urnfield tradition. It measures 164mm in length (although it is slightly bent in profile) and with a max width of 28mm just behind the tang. The tang is a faceted circle in section, max 8mm diameter and 18.5mm long.
The top of the knife is 6mm wide, narrowing to the sharp blade which thins in width to the point.
Brendan O'Connor comments "This is a single-edged tanged knife.  The turned-up point indicates that the blade is very worn.  There is decoration on the blade, but I cannot make it out very well.
 
This is a continental Urnfield type.  Without consulting many more sources than I have to hand, I would not like to say whereabouts it came from;  while it could be central Europe, these knives are also found in France.
 
Wear has distorted the form of the blade, though there still appears to be a curve on the back towards the tang.  The tang itself is plain, but tapering in form.  This makes a relatively simple form - many knives have more complex tangs, which I would say is neither very early (like the knife in the Penard phase hoard from Ffynonnau), nor characteristic of the latest Urnfield phase, Hallstatt B3 equivalent to Ewart Park/Carp's Tongue in Britain.  That would suggest an origin roughly equivalent to the British Wilburton phase, probably before 1000 BC, but would not necessarily date its deposition in Wiltshire as something of an antique".

The decoration is grooved and on both faces of the knife takes the form of five three-rings-and-dot behind the tang. It is rather jagged in places and gives the impression of a curvy edge to the rings.
Between these and the point of the knife, again on both sides, are three incised lines between which are two lines of Us, one line of which are inverted.
The decoration is rather crude and along the lines are several places where the line is wider than need be. Another curiousity is an apparant thin line of copper alloy added after the decoration, running across it vertically. It is only 1mm wide but clearly was applied afterwards - for what reason? Perhaps to cover a mistake, though it is rather randomly placed when much of the knife is quite crude.
The patina is very shiny and the metal a yellowy brassy colour. The tang and tip of the knife have darker green areas of patination. One side of the blade may have been recently cleaned - very shiny yellow-bronze diagonal striations show on the surface.
The knife weighs 96.71g. While it is very likely this is a knife of the Urnfield tradition, it is very unlikely that it was deposited in Wiltshire at the time. It may then be a more recent loss.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , Carlisle, Cumbria (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 88 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 92 g
Description: A copper-alloy Palstave axehead of the Bronze Age that is rectangular in shape.  The entire object is evenly pitted on its surface with the pitting varying between 1mm and 4mm in diameter.  The blade end of the axehead is 50mm in length while the haft end is at least 38mm in length.  The butt has worn away, but it can be estimated that the full length of the haft end was 42-45mm, estimated from tapering of the septum.  The flange facets extend out from the septum by 3mm at most.  The stop, separating the blade from the septum, is worn but can be clearly found by touch if not by sight.  The blade does not flare out from the end of the flanges, but continues to follow the straight projection from the haft end.  The cutting edge flares only slightly, and though corroded at one end, the edge is mostly straight rather than curving in a crescent shape.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Gouge (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-950 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ribbesford, Wyre Forest, Worcestershire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 95.41 mm
Diameter: 13.85 mm
Description: A Late Bronze Age socketed gouge made from cast copper alloy. The gouge is complete, but the surface is in poor condition. Approximately half of the patina remains otherwise the surface is pitted and has areas of corrosion. The patina is a mottled dark green colour. The gouge is a sub-rectangle in plan, with the socketed terminal being slightly flared. It measures 95.41mm long and weighs 74.5g. The socket is circular in section, 13.85mm diameter, and tapers in the internal diameter. The opposite terminal, the blade edge is ‘C’ shaped in section. The blade is the terminal of a elongated triangular groove on the upper surface of the gouge. This groove starts 23mm from the socket and gradually increases in depth and width towards the blade terminal. Patina remains in the groove and has fine striations running from the mid point of the groove to the blade edge.

The gouge dates to the late Bronze Age, c.1150 to c.800 BC. Similar examples are found in Watson (Watson, P. 1993 Catalogue of British and European Prehistoric Metalwork in Birmingham City Museums BAR British Series 233) illustrates two gouges, but one is decorated with ribbing (No. 72), and the second (No. 73) is undecorated, but is shorter, and the length of the groove is considerably shorter than the recorded example. A more similar example is illustrated in Annable and Simpson (Annable, F. and Simpson D. 1964 Guide Catalogue of the Neolithic and Bronze Age Collections in Devizes Museum Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society), No. 645.  Gouges were used as wood-working tools. 

Dr. Adam Gwilt (National Museum and Galleries of Wales) commented on the gouge;  “Plain forms are the most common from the Late Bronze Age. Where dated by association, they usually belong to the Ewart Park phase (950-800BC). Examples with mouth mouldings tend to be earlier and belonging to the Wilburton / Blackmoor phases (1150-920BC)”
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Coughton, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 102.95 mm
Thickness: 19.38 mm
Weight: 90.9 g
Description: A Bronze Age spearhead made of cast copper alloy. The spearhead is socketed; this socket is circular in plan, 18.92mm diameter at the entrance. The edge of the socket is abraded and uneven, but not all this damage occurred recently as there is a patina over the breaks. The socket tapers towards the tip of the blade. Below the blade, on opposite sides there is an integral loop. Each loop has a pointed oval vertical face, whose corners bends and meets the exterior of the socket. The loops are clogged with soil, as is the socket. The blade starts approximately at mid point along the socket and forms a leaf-shape in plan. The edges of the blade are heavily abraded. The surface of the spearhead has a mid-brown coloured patina which is slightly pitted. In length it is 102.95mm long, 27.13mm wide across the loops and 19.38mm thick across the socket. It weighs 90.90g.

Phil Watson (Principle Curator, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) dates the spearhead to the Middle Bronze Age, 1500 - 1150 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , , Dorset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 29.8 mm
Thickness: 6.67 mm
Weight: 9.09 g
Description: Copper alloy spear tip. Tip of a socketed spear, Taperin point with out curved edges. There is a tapering central spine flanked by two thinned flanges.
Dimensions - 29.80 mm x 20.69 mm x 6.67 mm
Weight - 9.09 g
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -800)
Found: Swinfen and Packington, Lichfield, Staffordshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 64 mm
Diameter: 14 mm
Weight: 27.52 g
Description: An incomplete cast bronze socketed chisel, dating to the Late Bronze Age between 1150 – 800 BC (length: 64mm; diameter of socket: 14mm; width at chisel edge: 8mm; thickness chisel tip: 2mm; weight: 27.52g).

This artefact has an incomplete circular socketed terminal at one end (diameter: as above; thickness of metal: 2mm), with the inside of the chisel being hollow to the opposing tip.  To the either side of the chisel’s length, there is a singular casting line or mark (average width: 1.5mm) ‘of the joint of the mould in which it was cast’ (Evans, 1881, page 172).  From the incomplete socketed mouth of the chisel, the form and length of the artefact adapts into an angular and ‘V’-shaped section, which then narrows to a point at the chisel edge.  The artefact is in a slightly worn but good condition with a dark green patina and small infrequent areas of pitting on the surface.

A similar example is illustrated in Evans, J, 1881, ‘The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland’, pages 171-2, fig 200, which was found as part of a hoard from Carlton Rode, Norfolk, which Evans comments is well adapted for cutting mortises.

Other similar examples of socketed chisels are also illustrated in the Archaeological Journal Vol IV (1849), page 382, found at Westow, Yorkshire, and in the Archaeological Journal IX (1852), pages 302-3, found at Romford, Essex.  Evans (1881) also describes other socketed chisels found at Heathery Burn Cave, Durham; Roseberry Topping, Yorkshire; Meldreth, Cambridgeshire, as well as examples from France, Switzerland and Italy.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: West Horsley, Guildford, Surrey (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 49 mm
Weight: 3.35 g
Description: An awl of Bronze Age date. The awl has a square section. It is thickest in the centre and tapers to the two points, which are rounded.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axe (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , , North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 67.1 mm
Thickness: 10.2 mm
Weight: 122.1 g
Description: A fragment of a cast copper alloy flat axe of the Early Bronze Age. The fragment consists of the back of the haft, the whole of the cutting blade is missing.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1200 to -701)
Found: Kingston Deverill, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 18.6 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 5.61 g
Description: Mouth fragment of copper alloy/ bronze Late Bronze Age socketed axehead with rib decoration. The fragment measures 18.6x22.2x3mm and weighs 5.61g.
The mouth has a single lip moulding 5mm thick, and three ribs are visible extending from it.
Some of the patina is missing and the metal is a light greeny blue in colour.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Sword (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1200 to -701)
Found: Kingston Deverill, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 61.2 mm
Thickness: 3.2 mm
Weight: 18 g
Description: Tip fragment of Late Bronze Age sword, with a broad flat midrib and chamfered edges, lenticular in section. It is probably a Ewart Park type sword.
The surviving fragment is 61.2mm long, 23.6mm wide at the (oldish) break and weighs 18.00g. It is max. 3.2mm thick at the broken end. It is slightly bent in profile at the tip. The edges are jagged but worn and there are signs of repeated working on the midrib. Much of the original patina has been lost and the metal is dark/ black in colour and rough to touch with areas of greeny blue corrosion.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Razor (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1200 to -701)
Found: Kingston Deverill, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 41.4 mm
Thickness: 4.8 mm
Weight: 14.48 g
Description: An incomplete copper alloy Late Bronze Age socketed razor (probably). The blade is triangular in shape and one side-edge appears to be missing. The blade is apparantly 15.5mm long to the chamfered cutting edge, much of which is worn/ broken away. 
Below the socket the blade is 33.5mm wide and 4.8mm thick, being triangular in section so thinning to the cutting edge. The blade is separated from the socket by a light incised groove beneath it on booth sides.
The socket is v-shaped in section and to the break, 3.6mm high. At this point it is 4.4mm wide. At the surviving edge, the socket appears to curve round it.
The socket is set at a slight angle, presumably useful for a cutting implement.
The incomplete object measures 41.4x20.9x4.8mm and weighs 14.48g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Unidentified Object (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to MEDIEVAL ( to )
Material: Gold 
Found: Brixton Deverill, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 32.3 mm
Weight: 1.24 g
Description: An undatable worked strip of gold, reminiscent in shape of a medieval strap-end or possibly a pendant Bronze Age in date. One end (the wider, 9.6mm wide) is broken (recent-ish) and the strap then tapers to an end 4.2mm wide with a broken loop (also recent-ish) projecting from it (internal diameter c.2.2mm). The long edges are finished. One face has an indented line flanking the long edges and curving round behind the projecting loop. Measures 32.3mm in length and weighs 1.24g. It is rather dented in places and the finder says it was folded when he found it. He thought it was a piece of gold foil and unfolded it.


Treasure report written by Dr S.P. Needham: The fragment comprises one end of a ribbon of gold the sides converging in a convex curve towards a perforated terminal. The long edges are thickened outside a light crease inset by 1mm. The terminal's end has been torn off leaving just half of the perforation extant.


The ribbon has a number of buckles and a partial fracture crossing transversely at one point.
Notes: Treasure report written by Dr S.P. Needham: This is very likely to be an ancient object (over 300 years old) and may be of future research interest if better parallels come to light.













The incomplete nature of this object and the lack of diagnostic features makes it difficult to identify its original form. A range of ribbon, or strip ornaments in gold are known from the British Bronze Age, including for torcs, bracelets and small fittings. It is possible that the Brixham Deverill fragment belongs to this repertoire and the composition of the metal would not be inconsistent with such a date.

 











Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the surface indicated a gold content of 85-87 %, a silver content of 11-13 %, the remainder being copper. The fragment weighs 1.23 grams.






TVC recommended valuation: £20
Subsequent action: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1700 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Polesworth, North Warwickshire, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 96.59 mm
Thickness: 9.63 mm
Weight: 131.88 g
Description: The axe is made from cast copper alloy. The axe is complete, but the surface has been heavily abraded and is pitted, therefore there is only one patch of a heavy brown patina.  

In plan the axe is a sub elongated trapezoid with a rounded butt and flared blade. The butt is rounded, and in profile tapers to a rounded edge. The edges of the septum and body are slightly raised, forming a slight flange. The blade flares outwards, but the blade tips are abraded and therefore rounded. The cutting edge is slightly asymmetrical which may be due to wear rather than abrasion. In profile the blade forms a ‘>’. 

The axe measures 96.59mm long from the butt to the apex of the cutting edge. It is 49.68mm wide from blade tip to blade it, and is 9.63mm thick at its thickest point on the body. It weighs 131.88g.

The axe is a similar to a Class 5 example (figure 28 Arreton No. 89) illustrated in Rohl, B. and Needham, S. 1998 The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis British Museum Occassional Paper No. 102. This example is dated to the early Bronze Age, c. 1700 to 1600 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-800 to -650)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wasperton, Warwick, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 57.88 mm
Thickness: 17.08 mm
Weight: 86.96 g
Description: A cast copper alloy incomplete socketed axe. The lower portion of the axe remains, including a fragment of at the body and complete blade. One face of the body is more complete than the other, therefore revealing the socket. The interior of the socket is slight rough and there are moulded linear striations as if the metal has incorporated the striations of organic matter. The plan the axe is a sub-trapezoid with the upper edge is an obliquely angled broken edge. The break is not recent as there are traces of patina over the break. The sides of the axe taper outwards slightly towards the blade tip. The casting seams are just visible on the sides. The blade tips are not flared outwards. The blade cutting edge is rounded and blunt, and is slightly convex in plan. The surface of the axe is heavily abraded and there are traces of a light grey/green patina, with further patches of a shiny grey patina. The axe weighs 86.96g. From the cutting edge to the upper edge it measures 57.88mm, across the blade, from tip to tip to measures 43.64mm and 17.08mm thick.

A similar axe was recorded from the Llyn Fawr hoard (Rohl, B. and Needham, S. 1998 The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis British Museum Occasional Paper No. 102.), Figure 40, Nos. 401, 404 and 405. These axes also have the relatively straight sides leading to the blade tips and the slightly convex blade edge. The Llyn Fawr hoard is dated to the late Bronze Age (c. 800 to c. 650 BC), therefore the recorded axe can be dated, also, to the late Bronze Age.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Pin (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , North Dorset, Dorset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 149.76 mm
Weight: 25.34 g
Description: An incomplete copper-alloy quoit headed pin. The total length of the pin is 149.76 mm. The shaft of the pin is incomplete and slightly bent(in common with several other examples). At the distal end the shaft has a circular cross-section (4.5 mm) which broadens to become oval (7.38 mm by 5.15 mm) at the proximal end. The head is incomplete and has a lozenge shaped cross-section (5.2 mm x 5.99 mm at the proximal end and tapering to 3.37 mm x 4.45 mm at the furthest surviving extent) a characteristic of Somerset examples. It is not possible to establish the dimensions of the ring-shaped head and it appears to have been oval. The proximal end of the shaft and the remaining parts of the head are decorated with lateral incised lines front and back and also around the exterior pointed face of the head. The lines are longer on the shaft and where the shaft and head and here are raange in two lines (one on each side) angled inwards to form a chevron pointing away from the head (the design is repeated front and back). On the head the lines are short and cut across the points of the lozenge shaped cross section. It is middle Bronze Age in date (c. 1500 - 1150 BC).
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Penllyn, the Vale of Glamorgan, the Vale of Glamorgan (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 54 mm
Thickness: 3.18 mm
Weight: 6.2 g
Description: Bronze tanged chisel of Middle Bronze Age date, c.1500 - 1100BC.



The chisel is comparatively small, with a distorted length of 50.83mm (c. 54mm undistorted). The artefact is thickest at its middle (at 3.18mm) and thins to the blade and tang end. The sides are divergent and straight along the tang and gently curved along the blade. The blade edge has a width of 16.84mm and is also gently curved. Little of the original surface survives, which appears to have had a black patination. The current surface is mid-green to brown. The chisel weighs 6.2g. Non-destructive analysis to ascertain the elemental composition of the chisel was carried out by Mary Davis using a CamScan MaXim 2040 analytical scanning electron microscope (SEM), plus an Oxford Instruments Link Isis energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). The object was examined whole within the specimen chamber and analysed for 100 live seconds using a working distance of 35mm and an accelerating voltage of 20kV. A scrape along one edge of the object allowed analysis of the metal in this area. Unfortunately the electron beam was too unsteady to obtain reliable semi-quantitative results, but a series of readings showed that the object was of tin bronze; neither zinc nor lead were present in detectable quantities. The suggested composition would be broadly consistent with Middle Bronze Age metal composition, perhaps Taunton or Cammaes metalworking.
Notes: This chisel has proved difficult to closely parallel, although the form and style seem consistent with Bronze Age types. The Sparkford Hill Hoard, Somerset (Smith Ed., 1959, Inventaria Archaeologia; An Illustrated Card-Inventory of Important Associated Finds in Archaeology; Great Britain 7th Set: GB. 42-47) contained a larger chisel of similar form and dated to the end of the Middle Bronze Age. A similar chisel found at Monkton, Pembrokeshire (Savory 1980, pp. 117, No 265) was dated through associated artefacts to the 11th or 10th century BC. Both of these parallels have a less flared blade compared to this example.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Found: Llandow, the Vale of Glamorgan, the Vale of Glamorgan (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 163 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 494.8 g
Description: Middle Bronze Age bronze palstave The palstave is looped and is of (group III) low-flanged (broad-blade) form, probably of Type Sleaford (Schmidt & Burgess, 1981, pp 136) , belonging to the Taunton or the corresponding Cemmaes tradition in Wales. Taunton / Cemmaes metalworking falls within Needham's (1996) Period 5, c. 1500 - 1150 BC. The palstave is complete and has an overall length of 163mm and weighs 494.8g. The butt is square and irregular with a width of 20.7mm and has a thickness of 4.0mm. The sides are slightly convex as far as the stop and are then straight and divergent before flaring to the expanded blade. The palstave is wider around the flanges (26.2mm), than on the blade near the stop (19.8mm). The casting seams are evident on both sides and have been neatly finished (by hammering and filing), with particular attention paid to the blade area and the unlooped side. The loop is wide at 11.5mm. The septum is rounded and concave with a straight stop, which meets the septum at a right angle. The flange facets meet the septum before the butt and are highest (37.3mm) at the stop. The stop has a height of 14.3mm above the septum and rises 9.4mm above the blade. The blade is decorated with a weak mid rib and side ribs. The ribs are defined by two small cast hollows (c. 20-28mm long and 3-4mm wide) flanking each rib. The blade has a maximum thickness below the stop of 23.7mm and gradually thins to 12.9mm at the prominent blade facet. Hammer dimples are evident on the blade facets of both faces. Some sharpening striations running perpendicular to the blade edge are discernible. A single casting flaw on the septum of one face is visible. The palstave has good surface preservation and has a dark green to black patina.
Notes: In form this palstave appears similar to Schmidt and Burgess' (1981) Group III, it should be noted that the breadth of the stop/flanges, and the height above the septum, is very significant. Typically, low-flanged palstaves have a stop/flange breadth of no more than approx. 31mm and a stop/flange height around 10mm. A breadth of 37.1mm is closer to the criteria as defined for south-western palstaves, though that type are also characterised by angular flanges that rise above the height of the stop (Smith 1959). Examples with high flanges that do not rise above the height of the stop are known from Somerset, such as one found at Priddy, Somerset (SOM-1AD5D4), which was found associated with another palstave and found close to the Priddy gold ornament hoard, dating to the Taunton phase (Minnitt and Payne 2012). However, parallels with flanges as broad as the Llandow palstave could not be identified.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Scabbard (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Chedzoy, Sedgemoor, Somerset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 206.5 mm
Thickness: 14.8 mm
Weight: 128.75 g
Description: Incomplete copper alloy sword-chape. Late Bronze Age (1150BC-800BC). Ogival with lozenge shaped cross section, sharp median ribs and flattened edges with a slight rib front and back. The mouth of the chape is wide and open with deeply in-curved upper edges. The butt has a solid oval boss with a convex end. There are three ridges around the sides of the boss. The chape then flares out before curving back in to form an ogee shape and tapering to the round ended, oval sectioned butt. The chape is damaged and incomplete at both top and base and has been broken in two (the pieces were found separately on two separate occasions). The distal end of the chape contains blackened casting debris. Similar examples can be seen in H. N. Savory, 1980, Guide Catalogue of the Bronze Age Collections, National Museum of Wales - Figs. 36 & 37, pp. 118-9 and 184-5, especially no. 55 for the mouth.  Dimensions: 206.5mm x 51.4mm x 14.8mmmm Weight: 128.75g
Notes: 
Acquired by the Somerset County Museum. Illustrated.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1000 to -800)
Found: Witton Gilbert, County Durham, County Durham (North East)
Discovery method: Agricultural or drainage work
Length: 49 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 29.5 g
Description: A fragmentary bronze socketed axehead dating from the Late Bronze Age.  Only the lower blade end remains.  The cutting edge expands and is curved. The blade edge is intact. It is 0.5mm in thickness but expands to 10mm thickness where the break occurred near the main body of the axe. The edge is solid up to 12mm in depth, leaving 10mm depth of the socketed cavity.

The bronze has a relatively even-pitted, grey-green patina.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Barrow upon Soar, Charnwood, Leicestershire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 58 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 4.37 g
Description: Bronze age copper alloy awl? 58mm long and 5mm wide and thick. The object is in good condition with a green patina and weighs 4.37 grams. The object is circular in section for 23mm of its length and tapers in diameter from 5mm to a 1.5mm point. For the remainder of its length it is rectangular, 4mm wide and tapering from 4mm to 2mm, and is slightly bent. It has snapped off at this point.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 97.4 mm
Thickness: 9.8 mm
Weight: 109 g
Description: Copper alloy flat axehead dating to the Early Bronze Age.  It belongs to the phase I classification of types  (c. 2500 – 1450 B.C.) in Savoury’s Guide Catalogue of the Bronze Age Collections of the National Museum of Wales and appears to be of Migdale tradition.  It is not one of the earliest types of axe due to the flared blade and central thickening, which were improvements on the earliest types.

The convex blade is splayed on either side by roughly 10mm and the butt is slightly rounded.  Across the axehead run concentric ridges mimicking the shape of the blade.  The cutting edge remains quite sharp although the outer surface has flaked away in some places since discovery.

The longitudinal section is lozengic, created by a slight transverse median ridge and tapered ends.  This thickening at the centre was an attempt to prevent the blade from moving in the handle and ultimately damaging it.

The axehead is not symmetrical and may have been hammered at some time as there appear to be some marks on the pitted surface.  The patina remains across the majority of the object and is brown in colour, although there appears to be some surface decay.  Despite this, the axehead is in good condition.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Bagby, Hambleton, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 78 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight: 261.2 g
Description: A copper-alloy flat axe of the early Bronze Age similar in shape to a class 2 axe.  

The body flares evenly to the blade end of the object.  The blade flares out from the body with an even curviture to the edge.  The edge remains fairly sharp, though an imperfection in the metal has left a small semicircular divet in the center of the edge.  At the points of the blade, the width of the axe is 60mm.

The haft end is roughly squared, and it is difficult to tell whether this is the original butt or if butt broke off the object, the broken edges then smoothed slightly.  The butt measures 27mm in width.

The surface of the axe has an even grey-green patina, though where pitting occurs (always less than 1.5mm in diameter) the color is a light tinted green.  There are also patches of iron oxidation that seem to be integral to the object.  Thus, it seems to be made from a ferrous copper alloy.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Scawby, North Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 57.1 mm
Weight: 7.88 g
Description: Possibly a copper-alloy Bronze Age awl. The square sectioned shank tapers to a pointed terminal and may be incomplete at the widest end. The surviving length is 57.1mm, the maximum width is 5.6mm and the weight is 7.88g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Adze (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -1150)
Found: Brokenborough, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 132.6 mm
Weight: 176.92 g
Description: A Middle Bronze Age Palstave Adze with a damaged butt. It measures 132.6mm in length with a cutting edge 32.5mm wide. The surface is pitted. The cutting edge is chamfered and worn on a slant. Around this edge and the sides of he palstave much of the golden brown patina has been lost. Weighs 176.92g.


The shelf is deep on either side (7.5 and 8.3mm) and the hafting end c. on third the length of the adze. Brendan O'Connor comments:








'This is a type known to Evans (Ancient bronze implements, p 85, figs 70-1).  One of these is illustrated by Rowlands, The production and distribution of metalworking the Middle Bronze Age in southern Britain, pl 34, 1110'.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Middop, Ribble Valley, Lancashire (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 82 mm
Weight: 109.1 g
Description: Badly damaged socketed copper-alloy axe dating from the Late Bronze Age. It is difficult to judge from the photograph, but the axe seems plain or might possibly have a long thin rib in the centre of each face. The loop and mouth moulding are damaged/missing and there is a long tear in the side opposite the loop. Judging from the picture this is either a long narrow variant of a Yorkshire three-ribbed axe or a variant of Type Everthorpe, both of which are socketed axe types of the Ewart Park metalwork assemblage of Late Bronze Age Britain. 
Find not seen by FLO; photograph of find kindly supplied by finder.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1700 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Middop, Ribble Valley, Lancashire (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 110 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Description: Cast copper-alloy flanged axe of the Arreton metalwork assemblage of the British early Middle Bronze Age dating from c. 1700-1500BC. The axe is complete and has an extremly widely splayed blade. The outside of the flanges bear the characteristic diagonal 'rope' decoration of axes of this type. Judging from the picture, it is complete and apart from striations and other marks of wear on the lower part of the blade, it is undamaged.



The find was not seen by FLO; photograph was kindly supplied by finder.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Tetford, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 110 mm
Description: A copper-alloy spearhead, probably from the mid-late Bronze Age, c. 1500-800 BC.



The spearhead is approximately 110mm in length. The head is logenze shaped and slightly assymmetrical, probably due to repeated sharpening during its uselife. The head is double-bladed, with semi-circular central ribbing on both faces. The blades are dull and uneven with a number of knicks clearly seen. There are no remains of a socket mount, though some of the socket is visible inside the base of the head.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to POST MEDIEVAL (-1800 to 1699)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Barnack, City of Peterborough, City of Peterborough (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 98 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Description: Probable copper alloy spear.  The object has an oval socket which has a slightly expanded rim.  The oval profile of the socket narrows the further it extends into the main blade, becoming flat approximately 10mm short of the top.  The sides of the socket are slightly concave and lead into the main body of the spear.  The edges are very worn and appear not to reflect the objects original profile.  The blade edges flare downwards and outwards from the socket in a 'mushroom' shape.  The surface of the object is covered in a very thick layer of greyish mineralised deposit that also covers the inside of the socket as far as is visible.  There is a small area where the surface patina has come off on one side of the socket in between the line of the blade beginnings.  This area reveals two moulded decorative bands set horizontally around the socket.  

This object was discovered lying ontop of another object, recorded on the Portable Antiquities database as LIN-43C802.  This other object is also of uncertain date and function, however it does not display the same surface patina as the ?spear.

The external dimensions of the socket measure 41mm by 18mm, whilst the internal measure 30mm by 12mm.  The length of socket to the start of the blade is 35mm.  The blade width at its widest is 20mm.

The object is similar in some ways to Later Bronze Age tools, such as spears and chisels, although most of these have circular sockets.  oval sockets are seen on some Irish Bronze Age metalwork, however the form, relative thinness and 'tinny' feel to these two items suggests a much later date.

These two items were shown to the British Museum for identification and as potential Treasure, however their verdict was that they were not prehistoric in date.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axe (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to POST MEDIEVAL (-1800 to 1699)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Barnack, City of Peterborough, City of Peterborough (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 46 mm
Description: Possible copper alloy axe or chisel.  The object has a pointed oval socket with a slightly expanded lip.  The socket has concave sides which flare outwards gradually towards the convex cutting edge.  The concave sides have a slight lip to them which disappears once they meet the straight edge.  The hollow socket tapers as it goes towards the cutting edge, being solid approximately 17mm before the edge.  The cutting edge is very worn and blunt.  No decoration is visible.  The surface displays localised evidence of active bronze disease, mixed between light brownish deposits of an uncertain material.

Inside the socket there are three patches of bright green copper corrosion.  Both patches bear a wood grain impression suggesting that the object was once hafted on a wooden shaft.

This object was discovered lying ontop of another object, recorded on the Portable Antiquities database as LIN-436A46.  This other object is also of uncertain date and function, however it does not display the same surface patina as the ?spear.

The external dimensions of the socket measure 46mm by 23mm, whilst the internal measure 30mm by 18mm.  The length of socket to the start of the blade is 18mm.  

The object is similar in some ways to Later Bronze Age tools, such as spears and chisels, although most of these have circular sockets.  oval sockets are seen on some Irish Bronze Age metalwork, however the form, relative thinness and 'tinny' feel to these two items suggests a much later date.

These two items were shown to the British Museum for identification and as potential Treasure, however their verdict was that they were not prehistoric in date.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Middleton, Corby, Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Building work
Length: 297 mm
Diameter: 28 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight: 345 g
Description: Late Bronze age spearhead, 297mm long, 53mm wide and 28mm thick. The spearhead is in good condition with a brown patina and weighs 345 grams. The blade measures 220mm and is 1mm thick at its edge widening to 8mm where it meets the shaft. The shaft tapers gently in width,  28mm in diameter at its base and 5mm at the tip, and has a small ridge running along each side where it meets the blade. The socket has two holes 5mm in diameter, 39mm from the edge.  There is a small amount of damage and corrosion along the base of the socket and one side has patches of red and green corrosion across its centre.
Notes: Museum Identification
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ripley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 32.4 mm
Thickness: 8.8 mm
Weight: 33.41 g
Description: A fragment of a copper alloy, Early Bronze Age, flat axe, probably of the Migdale type, dating from 2150-1500BC.  Approximately one third of the axehead is represented by this piece.  The thinned blade edge survives and flares out at each side.  Before the broken edge, there are slight flanges on the edges of the axehead.  It has been suggested that Bronze Age axes were sometimes sacrificially killed (cut into pieces).  The fragment is 32.4mm long,, 36.2mm wide and 8.8mm thick. It weighs 33.41gm.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1600 to -1400)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Seamer, Scarborough, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 106 mm
Thickness: 27.9 mm
Weight: 188.4 g
Description: A copper alloy, Bronze Age flanged axehead known as a 'Wing-flanged' axe, dating from 1600-1400BC.  The axe is complete but is heavily pitted with corrosion.  On one of the side flanges, there are two small circular patches which may be the remains of a fixing point for a loop.  It is 106mm long, 43.2mm wide (across the blade edge) and 27.9mm thick. It weighs 188.4gm.  Two similar (unprovenanced) parallels can be seen in Nicholson, S, 1980, Catalogue of the Prehistoric Metalwork in Merseyside County Museums, page 87, Numbers 200 & 201.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Middop, Ribble Valley, Lancashire (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Description: Early Bronze Age flat axe, made from cast cu-alloy. As far as can be determined from the picture, the axe is plain on both sides, has a narrow butt and a widely splayed cutting edge. If there are signs of wear or re-sharpening marks, we cannot see them on the images; they may be very faint. 
This axe is part of the Brithdir metalwork assemblage and dates from ca. 2150-2000BC

Unfortunately, we do not have any measurements for the axe, but many thanks to the finder for supplying the images attached to this entry.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Rimington, Ribble Valley, Lancashire (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 10 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Description: A short cast copper-alloy flanged axe with high, triangular-shaped flanges and no stop ridge. The side view shows that the flanges almost form a diamond in plan. The sides are parallel and the blade is moderately splayed. From the image supplied by the finder alone, signs of wear or re-sharpening marks are difficult to distinguish, but the uncurved/unworked flanges may suggest that, in fact, it had not received a haft and was never used.



This short flanged axe is was probably part of the Taunton metalwork assemblage dating from approximately 1400-1300BC



Many thanks to the finder for providing the image for this find.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder