Object: Dirk (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1600 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Whittlebury, South Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 165 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 58.78 g
Description: An incomplete copper alloy dagger, or dirk, of Bronze Age date. The dirk has been broken in half in antiquity. The dirk has four rivet holes. There is an even light green patina.


Dot. Boughton, FLO for Lancs and Cumbria and specialist in Bronze Age metalwork, has kindly offered the following research:


"According to Burgess and Gerloff (Ref: Burgess, C. and Gerloff, S. 1981. The dirks and and rapiers of Great Britain and Ireland. Praehistorische Bronzefunde IV, 7. Munich) (pg. 19):

"Group II: Dirks and rapiers assigned to Group II have blades showing a central ridge which produces a distinctive flattened lozenge cross-section. The edges can be plain or bevelled. The blades are generally plain, only a very few examples having lateral grooves or decorative bands across thr butt-end of the median ridge. Generally butts are more or less trapezoidal and have two rivets in rivet-holes, only a few having an additional pair of side notches, indicating a hilt affixes by four rivets in the Continental manner....... Blades of Group II differ considerably and it is only possible to distinguish three clear-cut Types within the group, the basis of classification being the shape and proportions of butt and blade. The remainder are all obviously related to each other but do not form any homogenous types or are too damaged for further classification....."




They carry on describing their first type, "Blades with four rivet holes": (p. 20) A few weapons of Group II have four rivet holes, a feature not characteristic of British dirks and rapiers and more commonly found on the Continent where four-riveted trapezoidal butts are associated with Tumulus Culture rapiers in south Germany as well as Wohlde dirks in the North."


Burgess and Gerloff show three examples (nos 66-68) which are deescribed as possible imports from Northern Germany. No. 68 is especially similar to the one recorded here.


There is therefore a high likelihood that this dagger or, more accurately, dirk, is actually a Continental piece, possibly from Northern Germany or southern Scandinavia.


There is a similar dirk on thios website: http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Kultur/Westfalen_Regional/Siedlung/Siedlungsgeschichte/Bronzezeit/ 


Another more or less appropriate comparison is a dagger which is part of the hoard from Berlin-Spandau. Its origin is possibly southern Scandinavia, Schleswig-Holstein or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Northern Germany). It shares the four rivets, semi-circular shoulders/butt end and gently curved blade. There is an image (figure) here: Abb. 1,7 in: Schwenzer, S. 1997. "Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa...". In: Haensel, B. and Haensel, A. (eds.) 1997: Gaben an die Goetter. Schaetze der Bronzezeit Europas. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz und Freie Universitaet, Seminar fuer Ur- und Fruehgeschichte, p. 61-67.


Generally speaking I think that this is an artefact of the Continental tumulus culture which is part of the Middle Bronze Age and the date is c. 1600-1200BC, probably more towards the beginning of it, i.e. 1600-1500BC".


The length of the dirk is 165mm. At its widest the dirk is 35mm. The blade is 19mm wide before tapering to a point and 4mm thick at the central axis.
Notes: 
Many thanks to Dot Bougton for such extensive research and comparisons.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder