Object: Hoard (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Stannington, Northumberland, Northumberland (North East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Weight: 70 g
Description: The find consists of a fragment of a socketed instrument, a socketed tool, five fragments of a hollow ring with semi-circular cross section and a length of copper alloy wire.



The find can be considered as an addendum to 2010 T442 based on the location of the find and the typological similarities between artefacts from both cases/finds. Furthermore, the fragment of socketed tool and hollow ring may belong to (and refit with) objects from 2010 T442. This impression was gained from examining the available photos of the earlier case (since acquired by the Society of Antiquaries, Newcastle, after being declared Treasure). The objects in this new find are very similar in form and condition. They appear, therefore, to derive from a dispersed hoard.



Descriptive catalogue




Copper alloy wire. A curved section of wire with brown patina that has flaked away at one end for a length of 20mm. Neat breaks at either end, which have oval cross sections.




Length: 60mm (soft tape measure); oval cross section: 4mm by 3mm; Weight: 6.8g




Fragment of socketed copper alloy instrument. Section from the collar of a socketed tool. A casting seam is visible on the exterior surface of the fragment. A similar fragment was discovered as part of the 2010 T442 find.




Length (max.): 31.2mm; Max width: 14mm; Thickness of metal: 2.11mm; Weight: 5g




Hollow copper alloy fitting. Incomplete, in five fragments (Nos. i - v), with highly polished exterior surfaces with green/brown patina. The fragments belong to an annular ring with semi-circular cross-section. 



The interior surfaces are relatively rough and unpolished. The fragments belong to a ring-shaped fitting with internal diameter of c.15.6mm. Other pieces of the same (or a similar) object were discovered as part of the 2010 T442 find.





Fragment i: Fragment. Dimensions: Length (max.): 42.5mm; Width (max.): 30mm; Thickness of sheet: 1.7 - 2.2mm; Weight: 9.2g



Fragment ii: Fragment. Dimensions: Length (max.): 28.9mm; Width (max.): 21.9mm; Thickness of sheet: 1.7-2.1mm; Weight: 1.9g



Fragment iii: Fragment with some green corrosion patches to exterior. Dimensions: Length (max.): 22.4mm; Width (max.): 14.6mm; Thickness of sheet: 1.7-2.1mm; Weight: 2.5g



Fragment iv: Fragment, including a portion of the outer circumference of the ring. Dimensions: Length (max.): 21mm; Width (max.): 18mm; Thickness of metal: 1.7-2.1mm; Weight: 2.5g



Fragment v: Fragment. Dimensions: Length (max.): 23mm; Width (max.): 19mm; Thickness of metal: 1.7-2.1mm; Weight: 2g




Copper alloy socketed punch or awl. Small area of damage to mouth of socket, otherwise in good state of preservation. Two perforations at opposite sides of the socket mouth. The socket has two ribs and extends to a stem with four sides that comes to a broken point with a 'blob' of corrosion metal. The object appears to have been a socketed punch or awl.




Length: 70mm; Diameter of socket: 17.5mm; Weight: 26.4g





The copper alloy socketed instruments (Nos. 2, 4) are typical of the Late Bronze Age, as are the fragments of the copper alloy fitting (No. 3), and is a type found in other hoards of this period (e.g. The Great Freeman Street Hoard, Nottinghamshire: Smith 1957, GB. 22, 2(2), No. 16; The Grosvenor Crescent hoard: Colquhoun & Burgess 1988, pl. 174, 9; Wilburton hoard: Ibid., pl. 152, 5; Fincham, West Norfolk: NHER Number: 36176; and the Monmore hoard, Killin, Stirling: Schmidt & Burgess 1981, 185, no. 1045). A similar ring was recently reported as a single find through the Portable Antiquities Scheme (NMS-688046) from Burnham Market and Burnham Overy, Norfolk.



The similarities it shares with an object discovered in the 2010 T442 (No. 8) find suggest that it may belong to the same type of object, possibly the same object. If the fragments of No. 3 do indeed match this earlier object, then the identification of this as probable phalara in the report for 2010 T442 can now be called into question and revised (cf. O'Connor 1975).



The socketed awl or punch (No. 4) is relatively difficult to parallel, although the socketed technology and associations are well known Late Bronze Age features. A similar tool is recorded as a single find from Lea Marshes, Walthamstow (British Museum: WG 1762). Another example is from a Late Bronze Age hoard found near the Pigeon's Cave, on the North side of Great Orme's Head, Caernarvonshire, Wales (Savory 1980, no. 307, 4). Savory raises the possibility that it may have functioned as an awl for metalworking or a spiked ferrule for mounting on the end of a spear (Ibid., 127). The former seems more likely.
Notes: On the balance of probabilities, based on typological comparanda and spatial proximity, the objects that comprise this find are part of a dispersed Late Bronze Age hoard that also included finds from an earlier case (2010 T442), and are therefore treated as an addendum to that case.



The find qualifies as Treasure under the Treasure Act (1996), Designation order (2002) based on its status as addendum and in its own right, as a find of two or more prehistoric base metal finds.
Subsequent action: Submitted for consideration as Treasure