Object: Dirk (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1550 to -1350)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Cranwell, Brauncewell and Byard's Leap, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 158 mm
Thickness: 4.68 mm
Weight: 89.15 g
Description: A near complete copper alloy Middle Bronze Age dirk, dating to the period c. 1550-1350 BC. The trapezoidal hilt plate / butt end is damaged by movement in the plough zone; however, the remains of two rivet holes are discernible on the feathered external edge. A further slight notch is present on the exterior edge which may possibly suggest the handle was originally fixed with four rivets. The original mushroom rivets are all lost. The dirk is widest across the trapezoidal plate - below this the shoulders narrow to form the blade which is a flattened lozenge (lentoid) shape in cross section. The blade has a distinctive central rib which extends to the tip / point of the blade. This thickened rib adds strength to the blade and is a diagnostic feature of this type of short sword or dirk which is thought to be used for thrusting and piercing rather than cutting and slashing. The cutting edges of the blade are complete but have been damaged in places by movement in the soil. There seem to be no direct notches in the cutting edge (caused through use / parrying blows). The dirk is a mid green colour with a well preserved surface patina which is pitted, particularly on one side, by surface corrosion. Area of distinct patinated longitudinal scratches are present on both sides of the blade and lower part of the hilt plate - these marks are most likely caused through use / sharpening rather than as a result of the burial environment. The dirk has been bent at c. 45 degrees. The centre of the bend is on the upper part of the blade / soon after the butt end narrows into the blade. This bending has resulted in patinated transverse stress fractures / striations on the outer face of the bend, and a large area missing the surface on the inner face. The position of the bend suggests that the hilt was present when the blade was deliberately damaged; hilts in this period were organic being made of bone, horn, or wood. Such bending is common on metal deliberately deposited within ritual environments - specifically areas on the edge of wetlands. The findspot lies in an area rich in paleo-channels suggesting that it would have been placed in a marginal area prior to modern drainage. The dirk is best attributed to Burgess and Gerloff's (1981) Group II as it has an undecorated form with central rib, flattened lozenge cross section and a trapezoidal butt end / hilt plate. The dating of this type fits with the Acton Park II and Taunton metalworking stages of the Middle Bronze Age - which corresponds with Needham (1996) Period 5 and Burgess's Metalworking stage IX.



A similar dirk has been recorded on the PAS database from Whittlebury, Northamptonshire (NARC-CC1CF4).



The dirk measures 158mm in length, 44mm in width at its widest point at the butt end, 24mm in width midway along the blade, 3.49mm in thickness at the butt end and 4.68mm at its thickest towards the point. It weighs 89.15 grams.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder