dejp3/bronze-age-objects-pas huggingface dataset:
Object: Hammer (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Market Lavington, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Unknown
Length: 92.4 mm
Height: 22 mm
Diameter: 25 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 177.8 g
Description: Cast copper alloy socketed hammer, rectangular in plan and sub-rectangular in section below the raised collar, with three ribs on either face, that dates from the Late Bronze Age (c.1000-800 BC). The mid-rib is more pronounced than those on either side, measuring 3 mm in height. All of the ribs are 5 mm in thickness. There are pronounced casting seams down both sides of the hammer that are 1.5 mm in thickness, suggesting that the hammer was unfinished as these have not been filed down. There is no evidence of it having any side loop. The collar is 5 mm deep and protrudes 3 mm outwards from one face but it is only 3 mm deep and 1.5 mm thick on the oppposite face and uneven around the upper edge. The socket mouth is lozenge-shaped externally in plan and circular internally and is 25 mm wide and 22 mm deep externally and 14 mm in diameter internally. The body of the hammer is slightly waisted and tapers towards the middle and then expands towards the terminal to a flattened but slightly exapnded convex base that is 30 mm wide by 13 mm deep. This working face has been well used with the typical side protuberances from that use.



Socketed hammers became more widespread during the Penard phase (c.1200-950 BC). Hammers were produced in smaller numbers during the Ewart Park Phase (c.800-700 BC) which is characterised by a higher volume of leaded bronze artefacts. The production of bronze and in particular tin bronze depleted after 800 BC. Early examples tend to be plain with no collar, whereas later examples like this one have collars and moulding.



Whilst hammers are traditionally considered to have a higher tin content in the bronze (Evans 1881) compared to contemporary axes, a large number of records on this database note that based on the weight of the hammers a high lead content is also likely. It is therefore interesting to note that, whilst better preserved and slightly larger than many other examples, this hammer is also heavier than most.



Similar examples can be seen in records WAW-75FD95 and SOM-B048D1 on the database.



The Bronze Age Guide on the PAS website (https://finds.org.uk/guides/bronzeage/objects/hammers) comments that the "socketed hammer is only rarely found in Middle Bronze Age contexts and is a more defined feature of Late Bronze Age hoards. Rowlands (1976, 45) states that, for this very reason, 'it would be unwise to date stray finds to the MBA'." Dr Dot Boughton suggests a likely date range of c. 1000-800 BC, although noting that it could possibly later c. 900-700 BC.
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Razor (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-800 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Greenham, West Berkshire, West Berkshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 44 mm
Height: 44 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight: 23 g
Description: Cast copper alloy 'Hallstatt' razor of Type Unterstall or Poiseul (Matt Knight pers comm) that dates from the Lyn Fawr phase of the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age, c.800-600 BC. The razor is trapezoidal in plan with two suspension loops above a row of four 'hanging triangles' or triangular openwork. The blade edge is only 2 mm in thickness. There is some damage to each side of the blade where it expands to a pointed apex, now missing. There is a small patch of green corrosion where one of these edges is folded, but apart from that, the razor is in an excellent and stable condition and has a dark brown patina.



Type Unterstall or Poiseul razors have trapezoidal shaped blades, a strengthening rib between the two rings and the blade and have, like Felkirch or Bernissart razors, decorative perforations in the upper part of the blade. However, while the perforations in Feldkirch or Bernissart razors are circular or rectangular, Unterstall or Poiseul razors have triangular ones. Jockenhövel lists their main distribution in southern France, southwest Bavaria and northern Germany, with finds from, for example: Magny-Lambert, Dép. Côte-d'Or and Poiseul-la-Ville-et-La-Perrière, Dép. Côte-d'Or (Jockenhövel 1980, 176-177). He suggests that, in general, their region of origin would have been somewhere in Western Europe where these razors of Type Unterstall or Poiseul, along with razors of Types Felkirch or Bernissart, Endingen and Flörsheim, represented the most typical group of Early Iron Age razors. Jockenhövel's suggested Western European distribution of this type can now be underlined with seven new finds from the southern half of England: Wickham Skeith, Suffolk; St Alban's, Hertfordshire; Salisbury/Netherhampton hoard, Wiltshire; Bowerchalke, Wiltshire; Royston, Cambridgeshire, recorded in LANCUM-DB7650; Attleborough, Norfolk, recorded in NMS-01D7D8, and this example from near Newbury in Berkshire. Early Iron Age razors like these are usually found singly or in hoards, and another individual one has come up recently from Milnthorpe, Cumbria, recorded in LANCUM-220D90 (Dot Boughton pers comm).



Ref: Jockenhoevel, A. Die Rasiermesser in Westeuropa (Westdeutschland, Niederlande, Belgien, Luxemburg, Frankreich, Großbritannien und Irland). Prähistorische Bronzefunde VIII,3 (Verlag C.H. Beck, München [1980]) IX, 239 S., 104 Tafeln.



Pearce (1983) illustrates fragments of Hallstatt Class 3 razors on pages 645 & 650, plates 84 & 89, nos.731i & 750e, from South Cadbury and Ham Hill in Somerset.
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Deopham, South Norfolk, Norfolk ()
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 70 mm
Diameter: 6 mm
Thickness: 4.5 mm
Weight: 9.21 g
Description: Late Bronze Age copper alloy awl, round/sub-rectangular sectioned (6mm) pointed end and narrowed and tapering rectangular-sectioned tang. Length 70mm. Tang 5mm x 4.5mm in section. Weighs 9.21g. c.1000 - c.700 BC. 



Finder's no. AC905
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 59.3 mm
Thickness: 7.5 mm
Weight: 12 g
Description: Cast copper-alloy Bronze Age socketed spear head fragment. Broken along the vertical plane through the centre of the socket and blade, the remaining spear fragment is compose of one half of the likely original artefact.



Dating from the Middle to Late Bronze Age c. 1500 - 800 BC.



The blade and socket is roughly triangular in profile and tapers in thickness from socketed central portion to the thin blade edge. The shape of the item in plan also tapers slightly from a narrow pointed end, which would reflect the blade tip, to a wider portion on the opposite edge.



For a similar (complete) artefact, see WREX-E64E9C.



Dimensions: weight: 12.0g, length: 59.3mm, width: 11.8mm, thickness: 7.5mm
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Unidentified Object (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to ROMAN (-950 to 410)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Trearddur, Isle of Anglesey, Isle of Anglesey (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 41.54 mm
Thickness: 18.98 mm
Weight: 23.7 g
Description: A copper alloy unidentified object, possibly a casting jet of possible Bronze Age date, circa 950-750 BC. May also date to the Roman period if it is not a casting jet, therefore a wider date is given from 950 BC to AD 410. 



The object is broadly rectangular in plan. The upper edge is flat and the underside has a 'U' shaped concave recess. Two circular-sectioned runners project from the upper edge of the object. The runners protrude beyond th eedges of the main body. The object has a mid-green patina with an abraded and pitted surface with areas of active corrosion.



Casting jets are waste products which form at the top of a two-piece clay mould when the molten metal has filled the object-shaped void below. An alternative suggestion by Dot Boughton is a very worn object with tubular fitting or socket. 



The object measures 41.54 mm in length, 26.90 mm in width, 18.98 mm in thickness and weighs 23.7 grams.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1100 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Yapham, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 33.88 mm
Thickness: 13.69 mm
Weight: 64 g
Description: Fragment of a copper-alloy Bronze Age socketed axe head (c. 1100 - 800 BC). Only the cutting edge remains; the fragment is hollow and has a triangular section. Corrosion of the copper-alloy has resulted in a patchy pale green patina and the edges of the axe head fragment are worn and chipped. The edge of the break is rough and jagged. Unfortunately not enough remains of the axe head to be able to identity it more precisely or attribute a closer date. The length of the fragment is 33.88mm, its width is 45.77mm and the maximum thickness of the fragment is 13.69mm. The weight of the socketed axe head fragment is 64.00g
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Unidentified Object (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-1500 to -300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Dingley, Kettering, Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 23.5 mm
Thickness: 13.03 mm
Weight: 14.2 g
Description: An incomplete copper alloy "Moustache-shaped" object probably of Middle Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age date (1500-300 BC). The object consists of two pointed drop-shaped elements (one point partially lost), D-shaped in cross-section and joined at their widest point, by a longitudinally recessed oval neck. There are multiple longitudinal grooves on the upper face on both domed sides of the object, the tapering lower parts are plain. The two moustache tips or prongs flare slightly outwards and terminate with a small rounded knop. The central neck section of the object is plain and undecorated but the underside (between the two prongs) has a sub-circular perforation, believed to facilitate the attachment of the object.

The metal is a mid-green in colour with a smooth patina.





Length: 23.50mm, Width: 21.57mm, Thickness: 13.03mm, Weight: 14.2g



Notes:

These moustache-like objects are thought to date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age, after the discovery of one in the Salisbury Hoard (Stead, 1998, no.117). An example was found recently in a Middle Bronze Age context at Clay Farm, Cambridgeshire (Current Archaeology March 2012, Issue 264, 35). Some are 'single' examples while others are 'double' like this example, the drop-shaped elements often extending downwards rather more than outwards, for example YORYM-1AA0C5, SF-520513, HAMP-6F4C45, BERK-C3E5A3 and BH-AA1CBE.

The open area at the centre of the object suggests it was meant to top something that fitted into this gap. Descriptions of other moustache-like objects with similar perforations describe iron corrosion or wood mineralisation around the perforation. Although very similar to wing-shaped chapes, it seems unlikely they had a similar function, as the perforation (and size of the object) is comparably small.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1200)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Hartpury, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 80 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight: 93 g
Description: Incomplete Middle Bronze Age socketed axehead dating to the period c. 1500 - 1200 BC. Narrow-bodied with a square mouth and socket bordered by a deep, flat collar, now damaged. There is an irregular hole in one side of the body. Straight-sided, it remains uniform in width from just below the socket mouth until it expands into the flared cutting edge. It tapers in thickness from 18mm below the collar to 3mm at the cutting edge. The cutting edge itself is heavily chipped. A casting seam is visible along each side.



Apart from the tip of the blade, which exhibits a shiny, dark green patina, the surface is pitted and covered in corrosion product.



Similar in form to: WILT-C4C954 & IOW-C48CB1. 



Brendan O'Connor comments there is a small group of similar slender socketed axeheads from East Dorset (A Group of Middle Bronze Age Socketed Axes from East Dorset, Brendan O'Connor and Peter J. Woodward, PDNHAS 125, 2003, 144-6), and another in the Salisbury hoard. 



Length: 80mm, width of mouth: 27mm, minimum width: 21.5mm, width of blade: 28mm. Maximum thickness: 24mm, minimum thickness: 3mm. Depth of socket: 45mm. Wight: 93g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1250)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Bampton, West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 137 mm
Diameter: 21.2 mm
Thickness: 12.2 mm
Weight: 89 g
Description: A complete cast copper alloy socketed and side looped spearhead of Middle Bronze Age date (c. 1400-1250 BC). The spearhead has a short but slender kite-shaped blade with only the very tip missing. The socket is circular and tapers from the open mouth in to the shaft between the blade's wings. There are two lozenge-shaped undrilled 'loops' located nearly equidistant between the socket mouth and the balde. The mouth of the socket is ever-so-slightly recessed from the main socket. A small number of spearheads with undrilled loops have recently been recorded from across Oxfordshire; from Kingston Bagpuize (BERK-5BCE29), another from Cherwell (BERK-D20304) and another example was found in AD 1871 in Fyfield and is now in the Ashmolean Museum (accession number Ash.M 1927.2706).
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Englefield, West Berkshire, West Berkshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 35.82 mm
Description: A fragment of a cast copper alloy palstave dating to the MIddle Bronze Age, c. 1500-1300 BC. The fragment consists of the butt end of the axe, showing the two pronounced side ridges characteristic of these tools.
Notes: Oxfordshire & West Berkshire PAS Record Sheet No 499
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1550 to -1250)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Thornton-le-Dale, Ryedale, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 124.5 mm
Thickness: 20.6 mm
Weight: 103.49 g
Description: A looped and socketed copper alloy spear head dating from the Middle Bronze Age, about 1550 - 1250 BC. It seems to fit into Davis's Group 2 (2017). It has a triangular blade with ribs on each blade wing, and a prominent midrib, lozenge shaped in cross-section. The socket is circular in cross-section and the socket extends just into the base of the blade midrib. There is a side loop on each side of the socket, positioned very close to the end of the object, away from the blade. The spear head is 124.5mm long, 30.4mm wide and 20.6mm thick. It weighs 103.49gm. The internal diameter of the socket is 15.5mm. It has a smooth golden brown patina with only slight pitting and corrosion.



Davis (2017) notes that "Spearheads from the earlier MBA were those with sockets extending into the blade, and with loops on the side of the socket. They date to the Acton Park and Taunton phases, 1550-1250 BC." He describes his Group 2: "Early socketed" as "Triangular blade. Socket with short shaft aperture extending only to base of the blade."



Davis R (2017) Later Prehistoric Finds Group Object Datasheet No.5; A Short Guide to Early and Middle Bronze Age Spearheads
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Beckermet, Copeland, Cumbria (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 146 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Description: Cast copper alloy unlooped palstave axe probably dating to the Middle Bronze Age palstave 1500 to 1150BC. The axe shares similarities with the Taunton metalwork assemblage and Hotham related to the palstaves of the Acton Park metalwork assemblage to which it bears some resemblance similar to Needham et al fig 140 (1985) and Read (1995: p.3 fig 9 ) Dated to 1200 BC. The axe is almost complete and is relatively long with a length of 150mm. The butt is slightly concave and has a width of 30mm. The flanges are flat, longiform in plan, straight and parallel as far as the stop but do not extend all the way to the butt, with a width at the stop of 30mm. The blade is flaring 72mm wide with a slightly bevelled facet possibly as a result of hammering. The septum is very small and hard to discern and the edge of the butt maybe slightly broken. The axe has a green patina with green colouration in patches and there are various nicks along the length The axe is 30mm wide and there are no traces of casting flashes on the flange facets which must have been filed away. The axe share similarities with, NMGW-D73AD4 and NMGW-FAACD2.

The palstave shares typological features with Group I and Group II palstaves, the primary forms introduced to Britain in the Middle Bronze Age (Schmidt and Burgess 1981). As there are no side loops or midrib, this palstave may be relatively early, probably a Group II type from the Acton Park phase of Bronze Age metalwork, c1450-1300BC.

Schmidt and Burgess tell us that the term 'palstave' is misleading, as it comes from the Icelandic 'Paalstab' meaning a digging tool, not a type of axe. The term is used in British archaeology to describe an axe where there is a stop and the flanges disappear into the stop. Palstaves are also thicker below the stop. They are usually decorated on the blade and, as time went on, developed loops. Group I palstaves have a shield-like decoration below the stop ridge and variable flanges.

The concentration of palstaves in the North West of England is explained by the proximity to the Acton Park province, the major production area in north Wales and the Marches

British Bronze Age metalwork. A1-6., Early Bronze Age hoards / by Stuart P. Needham, Andrew J. Lawson and H. Stephen Green. London : Published and distributed for the Trustees of the BritishMuseum by British Museum Publications, 1985. ISBN - 0714113808 (unbound)

Read, B. 1995. History Beneath Our Feet. Anglia Publishing, Ipswich

Schmidt, P. K. and Burgess, C. B., 1981. The axes of Scotland and Northern England Munchen : C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung 119
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Ingot (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Badlesmere, Swale, Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 65.4 mm
Thickness: 23.8 mm
Weight: 291 g
Description: Fragment of a copper-alloy ingot of probable late Bronze Age date, c. 1150 - 600BC.



Part of a plano-convex (bun) discoid ingot possibly suggesting the production in a bowl furnace rather than a mould. The upper is flat and the bottom is convex. Only a small section remains with a part of the original edge and very worn irregular breaks on the other sides. The section of the outside edge is too small to idenify the complete diameter. The ingot is pitted likely due to a mix of impurities in its matrix and the uneven natural material used to create the bowl in which it was cast.



The fragment is 65.4mm by 51.2mm and 23.8mm thick; it weighs 291g.



Bowl furnaces were developed during the Mediterranean Bronze Age, becoming popular in Britain in the Late Bronze Age and were used intermittently to the modern era for many types of metal.
Notes: This fragment was found in the same area as several hoards containing ingots, 2017 897, 898 and 901, however it is not clear which, if any it is assocated with. The very worn, patinated breaks sugest this has not recently been disturbed from a hoard. On the advice of the Kent FLO this has therefore not been reported under the Treasure Act 1996 as it is not certain it was original deposited with or in association with any of the other pieces.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Gaddesby, Melton, Leicestershire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 42 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight: 127 g
Description: Bronze age copper alloy socketed axe head fragment, Length: 42 mm, width: 61 mm, thickness: 19 mm, weight: 127 grams. The fragment consists of the blade end and is sub- rectangular in form and cross section. It has a hollow rectangular core and the object tapers in width down towards its slightly flared rounded blade which is 3mm thick at its tip. It is very worn and has no diagnostic features present.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2350 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Goole Fields, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 71.2 mm
Thickness: 4.5 mm
Weight: 55 g
Description: A complete copper alloy possible flat axehead dating to the Bronze Age.



The axehead is sub-rectangular in shape, with rounded edges and tapers in width towards one end. In side view, the object is thickest in the centre and tapers in thickness towards each end, creating a pointed oval section.



The metal is pitted, very corroded and mid green in colour. The axe head is 71.2 mm long, 29.7 mm wide, and 7.4 mm thick. It weighs 55 g.



This object is relatively small compared to other Bronze Age flat axes and similar examples on the PAS database have been recorded under various types, including miniature object e.g. YORYM-CE8933 (59.01 mm), flat axe e.g. KENT-CF6F79 (80.6 mm), and chisel e.g. SUSS-9B7F13 (65.17 mm).
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Casting Waste (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2200 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Stonesfield, West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Height: 14.9 mm
Diameter: 27 mm
Weight: 24.8 g
Description: 








An undated copper alloy object, a fragment of casting debris (a casting jet) from metal working. The object is cone-shaped with a deep well in the centre and a thick stubby runner beneath, which would have flowed into the mould. The runner has several incised lines around it that may be tooling marks from when the jet was detatched from the mould, or may indeed be evidence of the tool working on the mould itself. The casting jet has a light green patina with much blackened material across and around it. Although it is not possible to identify the period with certainty, the patina suggests this casting jet is probably Bronze Age in date.









Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Knife (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Leafield, West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 45.99 mm
Thickness: 1.97 mm
Weight: 5.37 g
Description: An incomplete copper alloy Middle Bronze Age tanged knife. Tip of blade broken away, tang stubby with lenticular cross-section to blade. The midpoint of the blade is 1.97mm in thickness; upper edge of tang is 9.17mm in width.
Notes: Oxfordshire & West Berkshire PAS Record Sheet No W151
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-950 to -850)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Deviock, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 50 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight: 144.65 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy socketed axehead blade with a larger, heavy blade which suggests it was produced during the Ewart Park phase (c.950-850 BC) of the Late Bronze Age. The asymmetric casting with a misaligned core has caused one socket wall (11 mm thick) to be much thicker than the other (4 mm thick). This does not appear to have prevented the axehead from having been prepared and used. The socketed axe appears to have been deliberately broken in antiquity, most likely while hot from recent experimental research (Matt Knight pers comm). The blade has broken off below the socketed body of the axe where any decoration, probably in the form of longitudinal parallel ribs, would have terminated. There is a deep longitudinal groove on one face but this is more recent damage since deposition. The end of the socket is internally 28 mm long, 7 mm wide and 20 mm deep.



See CORN-37D710 for an axehead from the St Buryan hoard with a similar slightly expanded blade and three parallel ribs on each face with is part of the Ewart Park metalwork assemblage, dating from c.950-850 BC.



Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar example from St. Erth, that is in Penzance Museum, on page 565, plate 4, no.43a, which is classified as a Stogursey-type socketed axe, but is also referred to as a South Wales type, but without the complete axehead, it cannot be classified.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1200 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Maker-with-Rame, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 102 mm
Height: 33 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 185.5 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy socketed axehead with a square socket and the remains of a side loop and decorated with three converging moulded ribs on both faces, dating from the Late Bronze Age. The axehead is missing most of its collar and only has two stubs where the integral side loop would have joined them together. The surface is corroded and pitted with patches of light green oxidisation, but most of the dark green surface patina remains on the blade. The longest surviving rib on the face of the axe is 56 mm long and 3 mm wide. The axehead is slender in form and bears features that are most directly comparable with the South Welsh type, such as the three converging ribs, square socket and side loop descending from the collar moulding, which date from the Ewart Park metalwork phase (c.950-850 BC) of the Late Bronze Age. However, the axe most closely conforms with Schmidt and Burgess' (1981, 173-175) Gwithian type. This type is based on a mould for a slender socketed axe found in the occupation layers at Gwithian, Cornwall (Burgess 1976; Schmidt and Burgess 1981, 174). In the same occupational layer, two Continental bronze pins were also found, which broadly date to the Penard phase of the British Bronze Age (c.1300-1100 BC) (Needham 1981, 34). Thus Gwithian-type axes might predate the typical South Welsh type socketed axes from the Ewart Park phase and could date to the Penard or possible Wilburton phase (1300-1000 BC). Due to the uncertainty around dating these axes, it is perhaps best to give a broad date from 1200-800 BC, which equates to the Middle-Late Bronze Age in Britain. Other Gwithian type axes are known as single finds such as from near Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales (Burgess 1976, 71), and Sedgemoor and Loxton Hill, both Somerset (Pearce 1983, Nos. 673 and 678) (Matt Knight pers comm).



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a similar socketed axehead with parallel sides, a sub-rectangular section and three converging ribs on each face, from Kingsbridge in Devon, on page 95, pl.15, no.139.



References



Burgess, C.B. 1976. 'The Gwithian mould and the forerunners of South Welsh axes' in Burgess, C.B. and Miket, R. (eds) Settlement and Economy in the Third and Second Millenia BC. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports British Series 33, pp.69-79.



Needham, S.P. 1981. The Bulford-Helsbury Manufacturing Tradition. London: British Museum Occasional Paper No.13.



Pearce, S.M. 1983. The Bronze Age Metalwork of South Western Britain. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports British Series 120i and ii.



Schmidt, P.K. and Burgess, C. 1981. The Axes of Scotland and Northern England. Prähistoriche Bronzefunde Abeilung IX, Band 7. Munich: C.H. Beck.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Gouge (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-950 to -850)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Maker-with-Rame, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 56 mm
Height: 16 mm
Diameter: 13 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight: 38.5 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy socketed gouge, rectangular in plan, lozenge-shaped in profile with a circular socket in section, with faint vertical striations preserved in the groove which are probably remnants of use (Matt Knight pers comm). The circular socketed end is broken and partly missing, with an internal diameter of 13 mm at the broken edge, and the cutting edge is worn, partly through use, with its orginal surface missing. The gouge tapers in profile from the open end to a point at the cutting edge which is curved into a semi-circle so that it can gouge out sections of wood or other materials. The surface is corroded and pitted but most of the original patina remains on both sides of the gouge. Socketed gouges are first seen in the Ewart Park phase (c.950-850 BC) of the Late Bronze Age.



Pearce (1983) illustrates similar socketed gouges from St Keverne, Cornwall on page 570, plate 9, no.75, from Blandford, Dorset on page 607, plate 46, no.348f, from Lulworth, Dorset on page 623, plate 62, no.502m, and from Stogursey, Somerset on page 649, plate 88, no.746e, which are dated from the Ewart Park phase c.950-850 BC.



Rohl & Needham (1998) illustrate a similar socketed gouge on page 136, fig.38, no.323, which is dated from the Ewart Park metalwork phase of the Late Bronze Age, c.950-850 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1950 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Maker-with-Rame, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 45 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight: 56.35 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy small low flanged axehead blade with the faint remains of low flanges extending to the blade expansion dating from the Early to Middle Bronze Age c.1950-1750 BC or possibly c.1750-1500 BC (Matt Knight pers comm). The blade is trapezoidal in plan, triangular in profile, tapering towards the cutting edge, and rectangular in section at the broken edge. The blade was originally crescentic with expanded pointed terminals but has been worn to rounded terminals. The blade narrows towards the broken end, which is below where the transverse stop ridge would have been, stopping the haft or handle from sliding down the blade when the axe was being used. The blade is too corroded and pitted to see if there was any decoration at the narrower broken end between the flanges.



Flanged axes with crescentic blades can be found during the Arreton metalwork phase of metalworking assemblage V, which corresponds to Needham's (1996, 122) Period 3 (c.2000-1700 BC), such as the Class 5 axe illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 127, fig.28, no.89).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar flanged axe with wide transverse grooves on the blade from Staxton in North Yorkshire in plate 33, no.411, which is classified as a Type Arreton long flanged axe and dated from the Arreton metalwork phase, which now dates from c.1700-1500 BC (Matt Knight pers comm).



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a similar low flanged axehead with crescentic blade from Christchurch in Dorset on page 88, pl.15, no.227.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1100 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy Wood
Found: Skipton, Craven, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 69.5 mm
Thickness: 25.3 mm
Weight: 53 g
Description: A fragment of a Late Bronze Age copper alloy pegged spear dating from about 1100 BC - 800 BC. Only part of the socket survives, but there is some preserved wood within the socket. The start of the blades are visible at the upper end, and the circular peg holes survive. The lower end is also incomplete. The breaks are patinated.



The fragmentary spear is 69.5mm long, 25.9mm wide at the peg hole, and 25.3mm thick at the lower end. 53g including the trapped wood and mud. The peg holes are 5.6mm diameter.



Late Bronze Age Spearheads are discussed in Davis (2016) Later Prehistoric Finds Group Object Datasheet No.3; A Short Guide to Late Bronze Age Spearheads.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Bracelet (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1600 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Edenham, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 36 mm
Weight: 3.58 g
Description: Bronze Age copper alloy ring fragment from a bracelet or arm ring. It is sub oval in section. It appears undecorated but on one side there are two faint incised diagonal lines 7mm and 11mm from one end (the left end on the image) of the fragment. There is also a 3.5mm long horizontal incised line on the outer edge that starts at the break. The break itself is much cleaner than at the other end. There are three short horizontal scars on the inside of the bracelet. These look like they are either attempts to cut the bracelet with a chisel or where material has been removed to assist in producing the ring's curve. Probably dates to between c1600 and c800 BC.



The length is 36mm, diameter 4mm, and the weight 3.58g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Houghton, Test Valley, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 25.6 mm
Thickness: 4.3 mm
Weight: 5.6 g
Description: A fragment of a possible socketed axehead, possibly dating to the Late Bronze Age c.1000 - 800 BC). The fragment is triangular in shape and has a smooth rounded and curved edge which may have been part of the mouth of the socketed axehead. One rib is visible on the surface in the form of a moulded vertical line. The outer edges are jagged from where the fragment has broken off.



The fragment is 25.6mm in length, 18.9mm in width, 4.3mm maximum thickness, and weighs 5.60g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Leafield, West Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 22.2 mm
Thickness: 1.14 mm
Description: 
A Bronze Age copper alloy fragment of a blade, no further details, no photograph.

Notes: Oxfordshire & West Berkshire PAS Record Sheet No. P202
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-900 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Brancepeth, County Durham, County Durham (North East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 66.45 mm
Weight: 113.2 g
Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy socketed axehead of the Late Bronze Age, Ewart Park phase (c.900-800 cal BC))



The axe head has lost part of the socket and some of the body from the aperture towards the point. The apeture is sub rectangular where it can be seen. The blade of the axe has a very slight curve at both sides, and is 39.79mm wide,  and 27.42mm wide above the socket. The aperture measures 18.98 by 23.81mm. On both the front and reverse of the axe is a single rib. The body is slightly facetted towards the edges and both sides are sub triangular in shape: the apex of the triangle is at the point of the blade. As well as the structural damage to the axe there is some minor damage, wear and corrosion whether due to age more recent damage cannot be determined. Much of the original surface is missing.



Length 66.45mm, width 37.17mm, weight 113.2g



Based on comparison with a similar axe in Schmidt & Burgess (1981, pl. 89, no. 1369) the axae discusssed above is of the Yorkshire type, and dates to the Late Bronze Age (c.900-800BC). Yorkshire  Type axes have a wide distribution through East Anglia and northwards into central Sotland (Ibid, p223). The type was well represented in both the Bowes Moor hoards (DUR-308251 and DUR-1F5057).





Refs: Schmidt, P.K., Burgess, C., 1981. The Axes of Scotland and Northern England. C.H.Beck.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Dorrington, North Kesteven, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 52 mm
Thickness: 12.1 mm
Weight: 43.94 g
Description: A fragment of a late Bronze Age socketed axehead probably dating from the Ewart Park phase, 1000 - 800 BC. It consists of part of the blade and the cuttting edge. The blade is rectangular in cross-section, has a hollow, rectangular core (the end of the socket) and tapers to the slightly flared cutting edge which has flared blade tips. The sides of the blade at the tips is slightly concave. The fragment is in good condition, with a smooth, dark brown patina. It is 52mm long, 22.8mm wide and 12.1mm thick. It weighs 43.94gm.



WMID-DF1D02 notes that "Almost all socketed axes are from the Ewart Park phase (1000-800 BC)." This example is likely to be similar in dating.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Slimbridge, Stroud, Gloucestershire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 35 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight: 5.52 g
Description: 
~~Copper alloy socketed spearhead fragment that dates to the middle to late Bronze Age. This is the tip of the spearhead and has a pronounced spine running down its centre that is circular in cross-section, this is flanked by thin blades that taper to a fine point. The rear of the spear is truncated resulting in the loss of the socket and rear section of the blades.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wixford, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 44.16 mm
Thickness: 7.81 mm
Weight: 12.28 g
Description: An incomplete copper-alloy tip from a spearhead, of probably Late Middle Bronze Age date (c. 1400 - 1100 BC). It is broadly triangular in plan and broadly lozenge shaped in cross section with a raised central mid-rib on both sides. The fragment has a rounded point at the top, which has sustained some damage. The sides of the spear head taper from the rounded point to a broken end. It has a mid-green surface patina which has been heavily abraded; the spear head has lost most of its diagnostic features and as a result further classification is difficult.



It measures 44.16mm in length, 11.86mm wide (base), 6.86mm wide (tip) and 7.81mm thick. It weighs 12.28grams.



Similar spearhead fragments have been recorded on the database, including one from Newark and Sherwood, Nottinghamshire (DENO-447EC6) and East Hampshire (HAMP-A3D039).
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Lacock, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 119.72 mm
Weight: 49.72 g
Description: A complete, but slightly bent, cast copper-alloy socketed and side looped spearhead of the Middle Bronze Age date, dating to the period of 1500-1150 BC. It measures 119.72mm in length and 18.62mm in width and weighs 49.72g. The patina is smooth, dark brown in colour with patches of light green. After the slightly bent tip, there is a kite-shaped blade with slightly rough and jagged edges, which measures 62.7mm long and 18.62mm at its widest point. The central ridge runs down the centre of the blade, and blends seamlessly into the shaft of the spearhead. Underneath the blade on either side is decoration in the form of hatching; approximately seven horizontal linear grooves, which end at the loops. The casting seams on either side of the edge appear to have been trimmed and hammered flat. Running down from the hatching can be found a lozenge shaped undrilled loop, one either side, measuring about 22mm in length and 16.67mm in width. They sit approximately in the middle of the spearhead, between the blade and the open socket mouth. As the loops are undrilled, it is difficult to say how they could have been used to help attach the wooden shaft to the spearhead, or whether they were used as suspension loops for tassels or other forms of decorations. The open socket mouth is circular, measuring 16.78mm in diameter, and has a slightly recessed and jagged edge.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Unidentified Object (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-1500 to -300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Barwick, South Somerset, Somerset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 22 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight: 4.08 g
Description: ~~An incomplete copper alloy moustache-like object probably dating from the Middle Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age (1500-300 BC).

This has a hollow bulbous body one end of which narrows to a fine point giving an overall tear drop shape. To the side of the wider end is a hole 9mm long by 5mm wide. The wider body of the object has fine latitudinal lines the run around its circumference with only the pointed tip remaining undecorated.


These moustache-like objects are thought to date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age, after the discovery of one in the Salisbury Hoard (Stead, 1998, no.117). An example was found recently in a Middle Bronze Age context at Clay Farm, Cambridgeshire (Current Archaeology March 2012, Issue 264, 35). Some are 'single' examples such as this item while others are 'double' see YORYM-1AA0C5, SF-520513, HAMP-6F4C45 and BH-AA1CBE.



In the case of double examples there is normally an open area at the centre of the object suggesting it was meant to top something that fitted into this gap. Descriptions of other moustache-like objects with similar perforations describe iron corrosion or wood mineralisation around the perforation. Although very similar to wing-shaped chapes, it seems unlikely they had a similar function, as the perforation (and size of the object) is comparably small.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Blymhill and Weston-under-Lizard, South Staffordshire, Staffordshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 71.8 mm
Thickness: 15.7 mm
Weight: 182 g
Description: An incomplete copper alloy (bronze) blade, probably from a palstave of Middle Bronze Age dating (c. 1500 BC to c. 1150 BC).



The blade fragment is triangular in both shape and cross section. Only the lower portion of the blade is present, with a rectangular cross section, it has broken below the stop ridge. The sides are concave. A central ridge runs two thirds of the length of the front and back faces. The cutting edge is lost, but it still retains a convex form.



The palstave fragment measures 71.8 mm in length, 62.3 wide (at the blade), 23.8 mm wide (at the break), 15.7 mm thick (at the break) and 2.5 mm thick (at the blade). It weighs 182.0 g.



The palstave fragment is a mid brown to dark green colour, with an even surface patina. Abrasion, caused by movement whilst within the plough soil, has resulted in a loss of most of the original surface detail. All breaks are patinated.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Mavesyn Ridware, Lichfield, Staffordshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 90.3 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight: 94 g
Description: A complete copper-alloy probable chisel or wedge, of possible Bronze Age dating (c. 1150 BC to c. 600 BC).



The possible chisel is flat and rectangular, with a triangular cross section. The upper end is square, and exhibits signs of being struck. The lower end is rounded, with old breaks. It expands in width from the lower end up to the square upper end. There are slight concave depresions on each face below the square upper end. Both front and back faces are undecorated.



It measures 90.3 mm in length, 16.3 mm wide (top), 10.1 mm wide (lower end), 16.0 mm thick (top) and 5.2 mm thick (lower end). It weighs 94.0 g.



The possible chisel is a dark green to brown colour, with an even surface patina. Abrasion, caused by movement whilst within the plough soil has resulted in a loss of some of the original surface detail.



A couple of similar possible chisels have been recorded on the PAS database, including: SUR-DFA787; LANCUM-17104C and NLM-5232B6. Chisels and awls have few diagnostic features and change little through time, making their dating and identification more difficult. The attention to detail with the decorative facets around the head, may be suggestive of a Bronze Age date.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1250 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Lyminge, Shepway, Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 27.08 mm
Thickness: 4.59 mm
Weight: 1.56 g
Description: A complete copper alloy awl / leather working tool of uncertain date, possibly Bronze Age but conceivably Roman or medieval.



Description: The awl is in very good condition with a dark grey-brown mildly patinated surface. The awl has a square cross section. Both ends taper to a sharp point. One point is slightly longer than the others and each of the four faces is slightly indented. There are some scratches on the rounded end. Some awls may have been hafted in to a wooden or bone handle however this example was probably used in the hand without hafting as both ends of the awl are useful, practical tools.



Measurements: 27.08mm long, 4.59mm, 4.62mm and 1.56g in weight.



Description: From the PAS website: (http://finds.org.uk/bronzeage/objects/awl) Awls are difficult to date but most copper-alloy examples are probably from the Late Bronze Age. They can have circular or square cross sections and are generally undecorated. They would have been used to make holes in leather or wood and many were probably were inserted into a handle made from organic materials. Awls were a range of rod-like tools that were usually round sectioned and pointed at one end, and rectangular sectioned with a square or chiselled edge at the other (Rowlands 1976 48). 'Awl' is often used to refer to any number of small, pointed instruments. Referred to as "pointed punches" by Coles (1963-64 117). They were presumably used for perforating leather, but it was once suggested that they were used for tattooing human skin.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder