Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-800 to -650)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wanstrow, Mendip, Somerset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 78.2 mm
Thickness: 4.7 mm
Weight: 107.64 g
Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy socketed axe head dating from the Late Bronze age.



The axe head's socket, and an undeterminable amount of its face have been lost to an old break. The break is such that one side of the face is up to 18.1mm longer than the other. The lower half of the object and the blade survive more intact, however it is clear that the axe once had a thick brown patina which has only remained on a minority of the object. As this has worn away we are unable to see the axe's original surface, and as such, some diagnostic elements are difficult to make a decisive judgement about. The patina which has survived has probably done so due to being sat in water, with the patinaed parts sat in soil in the bed of the body of water.



The axe's body is sub-triangular in profile and sub-rectangular in plan, its sides expanding only very slightly, being almost straight, down the length of the axe from its socket towards the blade. Longitudinal linear casting seams are visible on both of the narrow sides of the axe head running from the socket of the axe down towards the blade, however it is difficult to see how far down these lines run due to the level of preservation. There is no surviving evidence for an attachment loop on the object. No decoration survives on the object, and it is likely that the axe's face has always been plain.



The hollow socket in the axe which remains is rectangular in plan which implies that the original socket was also this shape.



The blade edge is curved in profile and does not flare out at the blade corners. There is no evidence of sharpening on the blade, however, as the surviving surface is not the originals surface, this does not tell us whether this is the case. There are also no clear chips from use.



The surface is oxidized to a variety of colours ranging from dark brown to green in colour. The hollow interior of the object is devoid of any matter.



The axehead is 78.2mm long along its longest edge, 40.9mm wide at the blade, which then thins to c.35.9mm closer to the socket. The socket measures to 28.8mm long and 20.8mm wide. The metal is 4.9mm where the patina remains, and 2.5mm where it has been lost. The blade edge is c.4.7mm thick. The axe head weighs 107.64



grams.



The narrow straight sides of the blade suggest that it is part of an Armorican socketed axe, which are also referred to as 'Breton axes', a type which are usually non-functional and may have been 'ingot-axes' at least in north west France. Outside north west France they are widespread but uncommon. They date from the Late Bronze Age, the Llyn Fawr phase (c.800-700 BC), and into the Early Iron Age, the Hallstatt C phase (c.800-650 BC).



Pearce (1983) illustrates similar Armorican socketed axes from Carn Brea, in Cornwall, on page 566, plate 5, nos.60a & b. Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015, 97, plate 24, nos.100-101) illustrate similar socketed axes from Cornwall and a similarly formed example also from the South-West is recorded on the database CORN-310297. Savory (1980, 173, FIG 25, no. 192) also illustrates a similar example found in Wales.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder