Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Alkborough, North Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 69.2 mm
Diameter: 9 mm
Thickness: 4.8 mm
Weight: 19.61 g
Description: Copper alloy spearhead. Small cast socketed spearhead with a rounded end to its trapezoidal blade, of length 35.2mm and of thin lentoid section, which has blunt cutting edges of length 32mm. The base of the blade has an abrupt inswing, forming a slightly oblique angle with the cutting edges, though its angles are rounded like the tip. The narrow tapering socket appears to have been solid where it meets the blade, and its hollow extent was measured as only 20mm in length from its mouth, albeit without aggressive investigation. The socket, of total length 30mm, tapers from a maximum external diameter of 9.3mm at its mouth to 5.9mm where it meets the blade. The thickness of the wall of the socket is 2mm, so this could accommodate a shaft of only c.5mm diameter. The mouth of the socket is chipped on one side. The blade is now bent slightly out of alignment with the socket.



The finder identifies this object as an arrowhead, though metal arrowheads of the Bronze Age have always been scarce. Evans (1881, pages 317-318) was aware of two Irish points which might have tipped a dart or javelin, and could cite a further five possible examples from the rest of the United Kingdom. None appear in Davey's 1970 survey of Bronze Age metalwork from Lincolnshire. The points and edges of this object are uniformly rounded, and all seem to have less potential to cut or pierce than the metal at the mouth of the socket. This suggests that the blunted blade is a deliberately formed feature, as both blade and socket would have been equally exposed to post-depositional wear or abrasion. The weight also exceeds that of arrowheads found practical by experimental researchers and re-enactors investigating the properties of arrowheads from the Mediterranean and the Near East. Dot Boughton has kindly solicited further comment on this object from Richard Davis,whose observations appear in the notes below. Inter alia, these confirm that a ritual or symbolic function may be suggested, particularly in the light of its small size and blunt point.



The rarity of this object class commends this as a find of note.



Suggested date: Late Bronze Age, 1000-800 BC.



Length: 69.2mm, Width: 19.2mm, Diameter (mouth of socket): c.9mm, Thickness (base of blade): 4.8mm, Weight: 19.61gms.
Notes: This object has the appearance of a Bronze Age spearhead. It has a number of unusual attributes:- 1. The blade had a very low, wide base. I have identified a group of British pegged spearheads as "Wide blade base", but none exactly match this one. There are a number of side looped, ogival bladed spearheads from the MBA with a blade base like this. There are also some Dutch pegged spearheads from the MBA/LBA with a similar wide blade base. 2. Overall length at 69 mm is very short. I have recorded only 12 LBA spearheads with a length shorter than this. 3. Socket mouth opening is extremely narrow at 5 mm. I have not come across any spearheads with such a narrow opening. 4. Depth of socket aperture at roughly half the socket length below the blade is not matched elsewhere. The shortest is up to the blade/socket junction. However, it is possible that the socket is blocked by debris which is a relatively common occurrence. This can be checked by a probe. Some replicas of BA spearheads, made in the modern era, have a drilled socket aperture that is of this length, as compared to the BA technology of casting the socket aperture in the mould. 5. Socket narrows as it approaches the blade base. There is an LBA group of 31 spearheads with this attribute. 6. No pegholes or loops on the socket. This is a rare occurrence, but has been found in a few MBA and LBA British spearheads. 7. The rounded/blunt tip is a relatively common attribute in British MBA and LBA spearheads. From the photograph, the condition of the metal appears consistent with deposition in the BA, but inspection of the actual object may give greater clarification. The key attribute that gives a problem in identification is the narrowness of the socket mouth opening. It would not hold a wooden shaft strong enough for normal use as a spearhead. I suppose it could function as a throwing spear, but there are no such parallels in Britain. I do not know much about bronze arrowheads: they are very rare in Britain, and the ones that I have seen are tanged. One explanation may be that it is a miniature for ritual use. The unsharpened blade and rounded tip support this. I have seen axeheads that are miniature versions of regular axehead types, and they are interpreted as being used in ritual deposition. There is a miniature flat axe from King's Bromley, Staffs, that is 68 mm in length.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder