Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1600 to -1400)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Hundleton, Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 144.5 mm
Thickness: 23.5 mm
Weight: 321.7 g
Description: Bronze Age bronze early palstave or Early Short-Flanged axe, sharing features with Bar-Stop axes (Stegbeile) as defined by Schmidt and Burgess (1981, p.89-90)[1] and of Acton Park 1 metalworking industry, straddling the end of the Early Bronze Age to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age; c. 1600 – 1400BC



The axe is near-complete but is heavily-corroded (with a length of 144.5mm and a weight of 321.7g). The butt appears slightly eroded and is of irregular shape (with a width of 20.4mm and a thickness of 4.5mm). The sides are straight and near-parallel as far as the top of the blade, to a point just below where the flanges end (where the axe has a width of 26.4mm). There is no suggestion that there was a side loop but there is the suggestion of possible nicking on the sides where the flanges end, although corrosion has removed any detail. Below the flanges the sides diverge more sharply to produce an expanded blade with a crescentic blade edge (51.3mm wide), damaged on one side. The sides are flat across their thicknesses. The flanges are truncated through corrosion or damage and begin just beneath the butt, rising with a gradual curve to reach a maximum height above the stop (with a maximum surviving height of 23.5mm). The flanges appear comparatively thin (at 2.5mm – 3.7mm thick) and are perpendicular to the septum.  The septum is flat across its length and has a gentle concavity across its width (with a thickness of 6.5mm, a length of 57mm and a width of 16mm – 18mm). The ledge stop is perpendicular to the septum (with a height of 11.0mm) and has a slight concavity across its width. There is a casting flaw at the base of the stop on one face. On one face, the stop projects above the blade faces, highest at the centre (5.1mm high) but near level to the blade at the sides and giving the impression of the stop being detached from the flanges. The stop on the other face (with the flaw) is less raised above the face and here the flanges are more damaged, making any distinction poorly defined. There is no shield pattern or midrib now evident below the stop, there is however the suggestion of a D-shaped depression at the top of the blade and it is possible to tentatively suggest an enclosing moulding, where the surface is better preserved on one face. The blade faces are subtly convex across both their lengths and widths with no discernible blade facets but giving a near-rectangular body section. There is a curved ridge evident on both faces (19mm from the blade edge) and is likely to define the position of a blade facet, now lost to corrosion.  The original surface has largely been lost but with occasional surviving remnants of dark-brown patina over the pitted, pale-green surface.



The axe appears to be somewhat transitional between flanged axes and early palstaves. The prominent bar ledge stop relates to ‘primitive’ palstaves, perhaps of Shield Pattern type, if the suggested shield-pattern decoration is correct. The separation between the stop and flanges, perhaps relates to Early Short Flanged axes and the suggested nicked sides would also be an early feature. The loss of more subtle details of the axe makes precise typological identification difficult. Needham (1996, p 133)[2] and others have argued that there is considerable overlap for ‘final EBA and earliest MBA’ types and this axe form would appear to relate to this overlap.  





[1] Schmidt, P.K. & Burgess, C. 1981; The Axes of Scotland and Northern Ireland, Praähistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung IX, 7. Band 7



[2] Needham, S. 1996; Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age, Acta Archaeologica 67, p. 121-140
Subsequent action: Returned to finder