dejp3/bronze-age-objects-pas huggingface dataset:
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1550 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Stockton, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 130.03 mm
Height: 22.91 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight: 259 g
Description: Incomplete cast, Middle Bronze Age, copper alloy, palstave, 1550-1150 BC. The axe has a curved flared blade that tapers towards the central stop ridge. The rear half of the palstave is subrectangular in shape, thought the very tip of the butt is missing. This rear half has U shaped concave flanks with traces of longitudinal ridges on the interior of the depression. The profile of the tool is diamond shaped, tapering from the stop ridge towards the butt and the blade.



The palstave is covered in a bright green patina and is heavily pitted with much of the original surface of the object having been corroded away, though in places the smooth orignal surface can be seen.



This palstave shares similarities with WILT-46374E. 



Length (Blade to Butt): 130.03mm
Height (Stop ridge): 22.91mm
Width (of Blade): 44.6mm
Thickness (Central Stop ridge): 28mm
Weight: 259g
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Anvil (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1600 to -801)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Elham, Shepway, Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 61 mm
Height: 52 mm
Thickness: 5.51 mm
Weight: 118.85 g
Description: An incomplete and very worn probable middle to late Bronze Age copper-alloy 'beaked' anvil c.1600-801BC (Ehrenberg 1981, 17). The anvil survives as a square body with two shanks from two of the straightish edges. Each shank is slightly pointed but very worn so full length is uncertain, each of the two 'blank' edges of the square body may be a break likely indicating further possible shanks or beaks but wear and patination obscures the detail. One maybe a V-Shaped working surface but it remains uncertain. One of these shanks may have been used to secure the anvil in wood and the other/s are likely to be a 'beak' designed for working metal into a curve. The surface of the anvil is mostly heavily pitted and a light green colour with an occasional small areas of smooth dark green.



Measurements: 61mm long, 52mm high, 15.51mm thick and 118.85g in weight
Notes: Ehrenberg (1981) listed only 36 examples of Bronze Age anvils from Europe (inc. 4 from Britain) in her catalogue and although others have been discovered since then but they remain a rare class of object, including one on the PAS database @ NMS-15E1DC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Found: Rockbourne, New Forest, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Diameter: 22.44 mm
Weight: 7.66 g
Description: A fragment from a Bronze Age socketed axehead dating to c.1000-800 BC. The fragment comprises a section of the rim of the axe, 20.71mm at its widest, tapering down to a narrow corner. The rim is flat and narrows towards the body of the axe, starting with a maximum thickness of 5.48mm, tapering down to 1.77mm. The fragment is comprised of two ridges, one is much larger than the other. The patina is a dark green throughout.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: St. Mary Bourne, Basingstoke and Deane, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 20.04 mm
Thickness: 12.12 mm
Weight: 11.12 g
Description: 
A fragment of a Middle Bronze Age copper-alloy palstave axe. The butt is all that survives and this retains the start of the side flanges.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Hartburn, Northumberland, Northumberland (North East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 27.87 mm
Thickness: 6.44 mm
Weight: 13.5 g
Description: A fragment of a copper alloy blade of Bronze Age date (2500-800 BC).  Only a small portion of the blade in retained. The object has an ovate cross-section and a sub-trapezoidal plan. All edges are heavily abraded.



Similar examples can be seen on the Portable Antiquities Database: WAW-5D0A75, SF-1C1794 and HAMP-AE4623.



The object is light green in colour with a corroded and pitted patina.



Length: 27.87mm, Width: 23.89mm, Thickness: 6.44mm, Weight: 13.5g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2125 to -1950)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Torksey, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 113.5 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 164.3 g
Description: Small cast copper alloy flat axe with a narrow butt end and a slightly flanged blade, dating from the Early Bronze Age. The butt end is 21 mm wide and 3 mm thick and the blade end is 52 mm wide and 3 mm thick, and the length of the whole axe is only 113.5 mm. The edge of the blade of the axe appears to be unused, and the size of the axe suggests that it might have been used for votive reasons. Analysing the content of the metal might help to confirm this, but it is from a private collection. The colour suggests that the axe is copper-rich and the original surface survives well, with small patches of corrosion product and a few pits, and a few marks on one face of the blade. Otherwise the axe is in very good condition. Flat axes with narrow butt ends with rectangular sections and slightly flanged blades can be found during the Brithdir metalwork phase (c.2150-2000 BC) of the Early Bronze Age, such as the Class 3 axe illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 123, fig.24, no.34). Plain axes like this are also classified as Type Migdale which belong to 'Metalworking Assemblage III', corresponding to Needham's (1996, 122) Period 2 (c.2300-2050 BC).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar small flat axe from Patrington in plate 14, no.176, which is classified as a Type Migdale flat axe.



Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar example of a slender Migdale type flat axe from Salcombe in Devon, on pages 453 & 599, plate 38, no.289.



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate the latest small, slender Migdale type of flat axe to be recorded in the South West, from Bishop's Tawton in Devon, on page 87, pl.14, no.111.



The Migdale Phase is now dated from c.2125-1950 BC (Roberts et al. 2013, p.23, fig.2.2).
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1950 to -1875)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 128 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight: 289.4 g
Description: Cast copper alloy incomplete flat axe with a slightly expanded blade which turns up at the edges, dating from the Early Bronze Age. Both faces of the axe are decorated with rows of incised chevrons, from the edge of the butt end of the axe, running for a length of 51 mm. Below these, from the middle of the axe to the edge of the blade are six fanned ridges that have been hammered onto the axe after casting, and are about 60 mm in length, and about 8 mm apart. Below the decoration, the blade has been hammered and bevelled. The edge of the blade is damaged and parts of the surface are pitted with corrosion, but the dark green patina survives well and the axe has been treated and lacquered in the past so that it is now stable. Flat axes decorated with chevrons and with expanded blades can be found during the Mile Cross-Aylesford phase (c.2000-1900 BC) of the Early Bronze Age, such as the Class 4B axe illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 124, fig.25, no.46).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a flat axe with similar hammered ribs and incised lozenges from Read in plate 27, no.317, which is classified as a Type Aylesford developed flat axe and dated from the Aylesford metalwork phase (c.2000-1900 BC).



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a flat axe with incised zigzag patterns on both faces and raised flanges, from Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset, on pages 71 & 87, pl.14, no.448.



The Aylesford Phase is now dated from c.1950-1875 BC (Roberts et al. 2013, p.23, fig.2.2).
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1875 to -1725)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Everingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 135 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight: 300.4 g
Description: Cast copper alloy developed flat axe with a crescentic blade and the beginnings of a stop ridge, creating a slightly biconical profile, and dating from the Early Bronze Age. Both faces of the axe are decorated with multiple straight lines punched into the axe after casting, on average about 6 mm in length, and about 1 mm apart, in what is referred to as a 'rain pattern'. The decoration covers an area between the stop ridge, which is 70 mm from the edge of the blade, and about 20 mm from where the blade chamfers and angles down towards the cutting edge, which is about 18 mm in depth. The cutting edge is asymmetrically worn, suggesting extensive use, and the material displacement on one side represents damage from use (Matt Knight pers comm). The corners of the crescentic blade are at right angles to the side of the axe. The surface patina of the axe is good with little evidence of corrosion and the axe has been treated and lacquered and is now stable. Flat axes decorated with this 'rain pattern' and with crescentic blades can be found during the Willerby metalwork phase, dating from c.1875-1725 BC (Roberts et al, 2013, 23, fig.2.2) of the Early Bronze Age, such as the Class 4 axe illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 125, fig.26, no.53).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) also illustrate developed flat axes with crecentic bades and similar 'rain-pattern' decoration from Ryal and Keighley in plates 28-29, nos.329 & 340, which are classified, respectively, as a Type Falkland developed flat axe, which is compared to an axe from Mount Pleasant in Dorset, dated to c.1900 BC, and a Type Scrabo Hill which is associated with similar axes in the Willerby Wold hoards from East Yorkshire, illustrated in plate 134, nos.D1 & D4.
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1725 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Well, Hambleton, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 139 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight: 435.25 g
Description: Cast copper alloy flanged axe with a crescentic blade, the beginnings of a curved stop ridge and expanded flanged sides with hammered oblique ridges, dating from the Arreton Phase of the Early to Middle Bronze Age. The axehead is broadly sub-rectangular in plan with an extended crescentic blade where the corners turn back on themselves. In profile it is broadly lentoid, with tapering edges. The stop ridge is 4 mm thick and 20 mm wide and 62 mm from the butt end and 72 mm from the blade edge. There are thirteen oblique ridges on each side flange of the axe, which range in length up to 20 mm long and are each about 7 mm apart. There are some patches of green corrosion product but the surface of the axe has survived well and its general condition is very good. Flat axes with flanges decorated with oblique ridges and 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.87).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar flanged axe with flanges decorated with oblique ridges from Gavel Moss Farm in plate 33, no.402, which is classified as a Type Balbirnie long flanged axe and dated from the Arreton metalwork phase.



Moore and Rowlands (1972) illustrate a similar flanged axe with ridged flanges in plate VI, no.8, which is classified as having come from the Arreton Down tradition.



Similar examples of local Arreton flanged axes with crescentic blades and expanded flanges decorated with oblique ribs are illustrated in Pearce (1983) on pages 615, 640 & 687, pl.54, 79 & 130, nos.427 & 686c.



The Arreton phase is now dated from c.1725-1500 BC (Roberts et al. 2013, p.23, fig.2.2).
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1000)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Weston upon Trent, South Derbyshire, Derbyshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 95 mm
Height: 23 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 142.55 g
Description: Cast copper alloy side-looped socketed axe with a crescentic blade and a thick plain collar, with a socket mouth that is rectangular in plan, dating from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The socket mouth is 27 mm long and 17 mm wide, which is quite unusual. The collar is 10 mm deep with a side loop on one side of the axe, 5 mm below the collar. The side loop is 18 mm long with an aperture that is 6 mm in diameter. Above and below the side loop there is a casting seam which continues down the side of the axe and which is also on the other side, but has been chiselled flat, apart from a slight ridge above the side loop. There are minor facets down the sides of the blade faces. The blade has turned-up corners, so that the side edges of the blade are almost at right angles to the body of the axe. There are some patches of green corrosion product on the surface, but the axe has been treated in the past and is now stable. Socketed axes with rectangular socket mouths, plain collars and crescentic blades can be found during the Taunton metalwork phase (c.1400-1275 BC) of the Middle Bronze Age. This axe shares similarities with the Taunton-Hademarschen axes, but also with the Type Meldreth axes with faceted bodies which date from the Wilburton metalwork phase (c.1150-1000 BC) of the Late Bronze Age. 



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar socketed axe with a broad plain collar that is rectangular in plan, from Kirkton of Kingoldrum, in plate 70, no.985, which is classified as a Type Taunton-Hademarschen axe and dated from the Taunton metalwork phase; and a similar socketed axe with a broad plain collar and a crescentic blade from Monmore in plate 82, no.1216, which is classified as a Type Meldreth socketed axe and dated from the Wilburton metalwork phase.



A similar example of a small socketed axe with a thick collar and rectangular socket mouth, but not a crescentic blade, is illustrated in Pearce (1983) on page 628, plate 67, no.564, which is associated with the Taunton phase of metalwork
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-800 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Harvington, Wychavon, Worcestershire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Other chance find
Length: 114 mm
Height: 43 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight: 354 g
Description: Cast copper alloy side-looped socketed axe with a socket mouth that is sub-square in plan, a thick everted collar and a slightly expanded straight-sided blade, dating from the Late Bronze Age. The everted collar is 7 mm deep and about 10 mm below the everted collar is a transverse moulding, from which five parallel vertical ribs extend down the blade at right angles, on each face. Two of the longitudinal ribs form a border on either side where the axe is chamfered at a sharp angle. The ribs are 2 mm thick, 40 mm long and 6 mm apart. The side loop extends from the transverse moulding down the side of the axe to a length of 24 mm with an aperture that is 10 mm in diameter. The casting seam is evident above the side loop and above the transverse moulding on the other side of the axe, but the rest of the two seams that continue down the sides of the axe have been chiselled flat. The blade has slightly expanded corners, and the edge is undamaged, suggesting that the axe may not have been used. There are file marks on one face of the blade, where an area of corrosion has been filed away since its recovery, and it is away from the edge so that this is not a contemporary re-working of the blade, and the cutting edge has not been re-sharpened. Otherwise the axe is in very good condition with only a few patches of corrosion.



Socketed axes with sub-square socket mouths, everted collars and straight blades can be found during the Llyn Fawr metalwork phase (c.800-700 BC) of the Late Bronze Age into the Early Iron Age, such as the Sompting type socketed axe illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 138, fig.40, no.405).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a socketed axe with a transverse rib and five vertical ribs and a slightly expanded blade, from Yorkshire, in plate 103, no.1620, which is classified as a Type Sompting variant, now dated from c.800-600 BC (Matt Knight pers comm).



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a local Llyn Fawr socketed axe with three ribs from Mylor in Cornwall on pages 35 & 77, pl.4, no.54a.
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1400)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Gooderstone, Breckland, Norfolk (Eastern)
Discovery method: Other chance find
Length: 179 mm
Height: 29 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight: 604.95 g
Description: Cast copper alloy unlooped palstave or axehead, decorated below the stop-ridge with a square shield shape with a curved base that extends on to the blade section, dating from the Middle Bronze Age. The butt of the palstave is squared off and is 23 mm wide and 5 mm thick and expands on either side into flanges which protrude upwards at either side by 10 mm. The septum measures 17 mm wide and the stop is 72 mm down the length of the septum and 10 mm deep. There is a shield-shaped moulding with a curved base below the stop, measuring 23 mm in width and 30 mm in length down the blade. At either side of the axehead as the flange tops slope downwards after the stop, there is a transverse ridge that has been chiselled away after casting. The length of the blade from the end of the shield-shaped pattern to the edge of the blade facet measures 55 mm and the blade then slopes downwards to the cutting edge, which is 16 mm in depth. The blade splays outwards nearer the edge to form a semi-circular shape with one of the blade corners having been flattened since deposition, probably through damage. The cutting edge is still quite sharp and has been broadly hammered out initially, followed by finer hammering close to the edge, creating two bevels (Matt Knight pers comm). There is some corrosion on the blade and only patches of the dark green surface patina survive. The casting seam has been chiselled flat on either side of the axe and continues down the overall length of the flange and the blade side as a thin line. Palstaves with shield-shaped decoration and expanded blades can be found during the Acton Park II metalwork phase (c.1500-1400 BC) of the Middle Bronze, such as the palstave illustrated in 'The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age: The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis' (Rohl & Needham 1998, 128, fig.29, no.92).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar palstave with shield-shaped moulding from Openshaw in plate 57, no.783, which is classified as a primary shield pattern palstave and dated from the Acton metalwork phase.



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a similar local palstave from a hoard found at St Tudy in Cornwall on pages 37 & 79, pl.6, no.78i.
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1125)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Cuckney, Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Other chance find
Length: 153 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight: 387.2 g
Description: Cast copper alloy mid-ribbed palstave or axehead with flanged sides with a side loop attached beside a deep curved stop and a crescentic blade with a large central longitudinal rib, dating from the Middle Bronze Age. The side loop is 29 mm long and has an aperture that is 9 mm in diameter. The casting seam above the loop as been chiselled away, but there is still a raised lozenge-shaped lump, and the rest of the seam on both sides has been chiselled flat. The stop is 18 mm wide and 10 mm deep on both sides and the thickness of the flanges together, front and back, is 30 mm so the start of the blade beyond the stop is about 10 mm thick. The blade is 21 mm wide below the stop and expands into a crescent which is 63 mm wide and 2 mm thick at the cutting edge. The mid rib is 7 mm wide and 62 mm long, and is accentuated by two parallel grooves, one on either side of the rib, that are 5 mm wide and 62 mm long. There are multiple oblique scratches above the stop and between the flanges on one side, which have probably been caused by scraping old varnish or lacquer off the surface with something metallic, since its recovery and re-sale. Other than these, there are very few marks on the axe and little corrosion, and the blade is only damaged slightly at either corner, which has not happened through use, but more likely since deposition. Mid-ribbed palstaves with crescentic blades and side-loops can be found during the Taunton metalwork phase (c.1400-1275 BC) of the Middle Bronze Age, with broad crescentic cutting edges with tips at right angles to the blade, but the narrow body and low flanges rising to the stop ridge of this palstave are indicative of a transitional type which could date from the following Penard metalwork phase (c.1275-1125 BC) (Matt Knight pers comm).



Schmidt & Burgess (1981) illustrate a similar palstave with a side loop, a broad mid-rib and a crescentic blade from Barskeoch Moss in plate 61, no.832, which is classified as a Type Carleton, Variant Kirkcowan, low-flanged, side-looped, mid-ribbed palstave and compared to items produced during the Ornament Horizon of the later Middle Bronze Age such as a palstave in the Taunton hoard (c.1400-1275 BC).
Subsequent action: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 31 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 11.81 g
Description: A fragment of a Late bronze age socketed axe (1000 - 800 BC), with part of mouth with of one face. The edges have been broken in antiquity, now with a mid-green patina and brown staining.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2000 to -1600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wantage, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 26.42 mm
Thickness: 9.39 mm
Weight: 10.7 g
Description: A copper alloy, sub rectangular fragment that is possibly the butt end of an early Bronze Age palstave (2000 - 1600 BC). However, the complete absence of ridges or a flange, is problematic, leaving the item open to further interpretation. There is an oval depression/void within the body of the piece, at the break point. The fragment has a green/blue, smooth patina and the break is from antiquity.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Welton, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 14.01 mm
Height: 21.06 mm
Thickness: 1.1 mm
Weight: 5.13 g
Description: Possibly the remains of a Bronze Age copper alloy axehead.



The fragment has an extremely sharp cutting edge, 1.1mm thick, with broken edges on all other sides, indicating it would have been much larger. The cutting edge runs along the whole height of the piece and the width increases further from the cutting edge resulting in a "V" shaped cross section.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Razor (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wantage, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 35 mm
Weight: 8.7 g
Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy Middle to Late Bronze Age leaf shaped, double edged tanged razor dating to circa 1500-800 BC. The blade has a longitudinal central mid-rib running down the blade length on both sides. Both the tip and the tang are now missing.



The surface has mottled green patina and the blade edges are now eroded and pitted. A close parallel can be seen at SF-6E2C31.



Hodges (1956) as Class IV, a possibly derivative of Class I.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (1600 to 700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , East Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire ()
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 52.5 mm
Weight: 14.15 g
Description: Small socketed spearhead with strong midrib, broken on both sides and at springing of socket, ancient breaks. Middle or Late Bronze Age. Extant length 52.5mm. Extant width 14mm. Weighs 14.15g. c.1600 - c.700 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Booton, Broadland, Norfolk (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 28.9 mm
Thickness: 8.9 mm
Weight: 26.65 g
Description: A fragment of a copper alloy Bronze Age socketed chisel dating from about 1000 BC - 700 BC. It has a fairly straight cutting edge, straight but tapering sides and an ancient break at the top across the end of the socket. The rest of the tool is missing. Though it is a probably a chisel (very similar to NMS-6F9A0A and SOM-6D7E72), it could also be the end of a small socketed axe. The fragment is 28.9mm long, 34.2mm wide and 8.9mm thick. 26.65g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Dagger (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2000 to -1400)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Sutton in Ashfield East, Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 71.5 mm
Thickness: 5.1 mm
Weight: 35.1 g
Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy Bronze Age dagger. It is lentoid in cross-section and has a slim blade ending in a rounded tip. The edges of the blade are bevelled and flare out towards the tang. It has two semicircular notches for rivets to attach a handle. The surface has a dark green patina and shows considerable wear or damage. Bronze Age daggers date from circa 2000 to circa 1400 BC.



The dimensions are: length 71.5mm, overall width 30.1mm, thickness 5.1mm. The blade measures 14.1mm wide. It weighs 35.1g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Dagger (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wantage, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 41.46 mm
Thickness: 2.61 mm
Weight: 13.83 g
Description: A cast copper alloy fragment of a Mid to Late Bronze-Age dagger or rapier. It consists of the hilt, with the remnants of two rivet holes, with a short length of the blade.  On one side, the rivet holes are delineated by a circular cast ring, surrounding the holes. The surface has a dark green patina with brown staining.  This dagger is perhaps typical of the Penard phase of the Bronze Age (1275 BC to c. 1140 BC). It is very similar to a Grp III rapier, or more likely, a dirk.



A similar item can be seen at - WMID-D54E37
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-900 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Droxford, Winchester, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 28.11 mm
Thickness: 3.66 mm
Weight: 5.6 g
Description: 
A fragment of a Late Bronze Age copper-alloy socketed axehead. All that survives is part of the thickened rim.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Gouge (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Droxford, Winchester, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 23.55 mm
Weight: 8.12 g
Description: A fragment of an unidentified probable Bronze Age copper-alloy object, apparently socketed. The wall thickness varies from 3.44mm to 4.59mm and is slightly concave in profile. The object is possibly too thick to be a spear socket.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Casting Waste (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to ROMAN (-1500 to 410)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Crondall, Hart, Hampshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 21.23 mm
Thickness: 13.8 mm
Weight: 10.88 g
Description: 
A Bronze Age to Roman domed copper-alloy object with a central rounded 'nipple'. This is possibly a miscast object or more likely is a casting well.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Artington, Guildford, Surrey (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 16.44 mm
Weight: 10.45 g
Description: 
A fragment of the butt of a Middle Bronze Age copper-alloy palstave axe with prominent side flanges.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -701)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Winfarthing, South Norfolk, Norfolk (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 50 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight: 99.4 g
Description: Late Bronze Age socketed axe head. Broken across the base of the socket, upper part missing, flaring from the break to a crescentic cutting edge. The surface is very worn, corroded and pitted with only patches of brown patina surviving. There appears to be a median longitudinal arris or rib on both faces, although the level of corrosion makes it difficult to be certain.



Surviving width of cutting edge 48mm. Surviving length 50mm. Surviving thickness 16mm. Weight 99.4g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Casting Waste (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-2150 to -300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Brailes, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 47.23 mm
Thickness: 9.43 mm
Weight: 56.07 g
Description: Copper alloy casting waste of unknown date: The fragment has undulating original edges, and has a small projection on one edge. In profile the item is relatively flat with a slightly undulating surface. The surfaces of the fragment are slightly undulating with one face having traces of a heavy patina and a turquoise/blue corrosion product. The surface is also slightly pitted with corrosion. It weighs 56.07g and measures 47.23mm long, 29.22mm wide and 9.43mm thick. The date is uncertain, but the turquoise/blue corrosion product but it may, tentatively be considered of a Bronze Age date. The site it has been found on is a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age site which elsewhere (Whitchurch, Warwickshire) has produced evidence for metal working (Parkhouse pers comm.).
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Casting Waste (Bronze Age)
Period: Post Medieval to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Breage, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 34.4 mm
Height: 25 mm
Weight: 31.05 g
Description: Cast copper alloy casting jet with two conical sprues or flashes that is ovate in plan, with two conical projections that are triangular in profile. The casting jet was formed during the casting of a socketed axe in a two-part mould, where the molten bronze was poured into the entrance of the mould around the gate piece which had two conical apertures that the bronze then solidified in once it had filled the mould for the axe. Socketed axes of this type date from the Late Bronze Age (c.1000-800 BC).



Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar casting jet with conical sprues from Lelant in Cornwall, which was found associated with swords fragments that are from the Ewart Park phase (c.950-850 BC) on page 571, pl.10, no.82e.



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate a casting jet from Gussage All Saints in Dorset on page 82, pl.9, no.247f, which was found with a socketed axe mouth fragment.
Notes: Found two fields away from a Late Bronze Age socketed axe blade. See record: CORN-10D5E6.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1700 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Heptonstall, Calderdale, Calderdale (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 128.7 mm
Thickness: 17.2 mm
Weight: 414 g
Description: A copper alloy, flanged, Flat Axehead, dating from the Arreton phase of the Middle Bronze Age, about 1700 - 1500 BC. It has flanged parallel sides, the butt end is squared off, with rounded corners, and there is a crescent shaped blade with upturned corners. There is a very shallow stop ridge, now difficult to discern. In side elevation the septum and flanges are in the form of a very slender oval and the outer sides of the flanges are decorated with a moulded, diagonal, ropework pattern that is a characteristic of the Arreton phase. Other than some abrasion around the butt end and some surface chips on one side of the septum and one flange, the axe is in very good condition with a smooth, dark green patina. It is 128.7mm long, 72.3mm wide and 17.2mm thick. It weighs 414gm.



Other axeheads of this type are recorded on the database: see for example references LANCUM-19A734 and LANCUM-EFEAC0. Axes of this type are also illustrated in Megaw and Simpson, 1981, Introduction to British Prehistory, figure 2.29, numbers 5 and 6
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-900 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 44.66 mm
Thickness: 27.43 mm
Weight: 8.07 g
Description: 
A fragment comprising part of the blade of a Late Bronze Age copper-alloy socketed axe. The base of the socket also survives.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-900 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 44.19 mm
Weight: 12.93 g
Description: 
A fragment from the body of a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age copper-alloy socketed axe. The fragment has strong, pronounced vertical ribs and a a very angular edge. The springing of the loop also survives. It is, most likely, part of a Late Bronze Age ribbed South Eastern socketed axe or, less likely, a fragment of an Early Iron Age axe of Sompting type, Cardiff II variant.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Metal Working Debris (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2500 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 26.56 mm
Weight: 10.49 g
Description: 
A copper-alloy casting well from which a runner leads diagonally. This is the waste from casting an object and is likely to be of Bronze Age date. At the outer end of the runner is a straight-edged projection. This is likely to be of Bronze Age date.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Metal Working Debris (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2500 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 21.47 mm
Thickness: 15.4 mm
Weight: 8.41 g
Description: 
A copper-alloy oval casting well with a narrow runner. This object is likely to be of Bronze Age date.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1550 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Brearton, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 88.3 mm
Thickness: 21.5 mm
Weight: 92.5 g
Description: Part of a cast copper alloy spearhead dating from the Middle or Late Bronze Age, that is about 1550 - 800 BC, Davis Groups 5-16. The main body and part of the wings survive, but the tip and the attachments on the socket are missing. The spearhead has a leaf-shaped blade and the socket and midrib are circular in section. There is no visible decoration and the edges are damaged, obscuring any edge bevels. The metal has a smooth grey green patina, but is deeply pitted in places. The edge of the blade is smooth and curved, suggesting there was no change in angle in the edge of the blade. The spear is 88.3mm long, 45.7mm wide, 21.5mm thick and 92.5g. The socket at the widest end is 21.5mm thick and 17.3mm wide. The midrib at the break at the tip end is 18.5mm thick and 15mm wide. The maximum surviving width of the blade (from midrib to edge is 17.1mm and it is 7mm thick maximum.



The diagnostic end of the socket and in particular the way it was attached to the shaft is unclear from this fragment, meaning it cannot be categorised exactly, but it was either looped or pegged. It is is probably a leaf shaped socketed spear head with a circular midrib section, indicating it is a Middle Bronze Age side-looped or basal-looped example or a Late Bronze Age pegged example. These date from the Acton Park to Ewart Park phases, about 1500-800 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2500 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ellesborough, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 18.1 mm
Thickness: 2.3 mm
Weight: 9.76 g
Description: A fragment of a cast copper alloy blade of Bronze Age date (2500-700 BC), only a small part of the object remains. The fragment has lost all its diagnostic features and so the classification cannot be further refined. The fragment consists of the body of the blade with a pronounced circular midrib ridge which narrows either side to form the blade. The ridge measures 9.8mm in width and 10.2mm in thickness. The edges of the blade are worn and broken, and it is unclear what the shape the original blade would have been. The piece is lozenge in cross section and has a shiny green patina. The fragment is 25.6mm in width, 18.1mm in length, and is 2.3mm thick. The fragment weighs 9.76g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2350 to -2050)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Hunton, Richmondshire, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 85.05 mm
Thickness: 9.82 mm
Weight: 137 g
Description: An incomplete and fragmented copper alloy Flat Axehead of Bronze Age date (2350-2050 BC). The object is broadly sub rectangular in shape with a splayed crescent shaped blade. In profile it is broadly lentoid, with slight tapering edges. The butt is missing due to an old and abraded break however the retained portion tapers inward toward the butt end. The retained portion of the body of the object has a diagonal break, possibly cause post-depositionally.   



The metal is brown in colour with areas of light green corrosion. The object has a pitted patina.



The axehead is best described as coming from the first phases of the Early Bronze Age and is comparable to (although not containing all the attributes of Migdale axes (many of these tend to have narrower butts which flare at the cutting edge).These axes all fit within the earliest phases of metal working in Britain, metalworking stage II, which corresponds to Needham's (1996) Period 2 circa 2350- 2050 CAL. BC. 



Needham, S. (1996) Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age. Acta Archaeologia, vol 67, pp121-140
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Ingot (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1100 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: St. Minver Lowlands, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 68.3 mm
Height: 30.3 mm
Weight: 302.7 g
Description: Fragment of a cast copper alloy ingot which would have originally been circular in plan and plano-convex in profile, but this fragment is triangular in plan and plano-convex in section and in profile, as it comes from one edge of the original ingot. Plano-convex ingots like this one were used during the Late Bronze Age, c.1150-700 BC. The upper face of the ingot is smooth with some dark green patches of patina, and coppery red areas of decay, and light green powdering which is bronze disease. The sides of the fragment have cavities typically seen in these bun ingots. Similar ingot fragments have been found in metalworkers hoards in Cornwall dating from the Late Bronze Age, most recently in a hoard (2012 T570) from St Buryan (CORN-37D710), which was found with socketed axes that date from the Ewart Park phase (c.950-850 BC) of the Late Bronze Age.



Pearce (1983) illustrates similar ingots with rectangular profiles from Mountbatten, Plymouth on page 451, plate 36, nos.281t, which were found with other Late Bronze Age metalwork, and an ingot fragment from Churston Ferrers, Torbay on page 457, plate 40, no.306b, which was found with a larger plano-convex ingot, no.306a.



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate another similar ingot fragment from Churston Ferrers in Devon on page 79, pl.6, no.123b, which is recorded in DEV-D9F1E2 on the database.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Madron, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 31.5 mm
Thickness: 6.3 mm
Weight: 15.3 g
Description: Cast copper alloy blade fragment, probably from something with a similar curvature like a sickle or razor, but only the sickle has a wider outer curved edge tapering towards the internal cutting edge. This fragment cannot be part of an axe blade or a razor blade as they taper towards the curved cutting edge and not towards the broken inner edge. It may look very like an axe blade fragment in plan, but the profile shows that it is not. But the cutting edge is missing so that any identification cannot be proven.



See NMS-0B76C3 for a similar sickle blade fragment, which is dated from the Late Bronze Age, and has worn as this piece has to create a skin-like patina layer, with lighter green corroded edges.



Pearce (1983) illustrates two sickles from the Taunton hoard with a similar curvature in plan and taper in profile on page 651, pl.90, nos.752u-v, which are dated from the Taunton phase of the Middle Bronze Age, c.1400-1250 BC.



Knight, Ormrod & Pearce (2015) illustrate similar sickle blades on a tanged sickle and a socketed sickle from Somerset on page 103, pl.30, nos.376 & 452.



Generally tanged or riveted sickles and socketed sickles are now dated from the Late Bronze Age, c.1150-700 BC, but as this is a fragment, we cannot identify the type or even the object, so the metalwork phase cannot be determined.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Stapleford Tawney, Epping Forest, Essex (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 81.02 mm
Diameter: 36.45 mm
Thickness: 23.19 mm
Weight: 131 g
Description: Incomplete copper alloy Late Bronze Age socketed axehead dating from c. 1000-800BC. The axehead is a South Eastern type and part of the Ewart Park metalworking assemblage. It has a round section socket and is undecorated except for a single moulded ridge around the socket apeture. There is a single integrally cast loop on the underside of the axehead and a casting seam that runs the length of the object from blade to socket on the upper side. The blade of the axe has been damaged and there are patches of corrosion across the surface. The axehead is triangular in plan, tapering to the blade which is flaired and so wider than the socket end. The object has a dark olive green/brown patina except in the places where the corrosion has occurred and it is a light green.



A parallel can be found in Savory 1980 No. 184.



Length: 81.02mm

Width of Blade: 38.37mm

Thickness at mid point: 23.19mm

Weight: 131g

Diameter of Socket: 36.45mm



Ref: Savory, H.N. 1980, A Guide Catalogue of the Bronze Age Collections, National Museum of Wales: Cardiff
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to ROMAN (-2350 to 410)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ellistown and Battleflat, North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 48.05 mm
Thickness: 6.95 mm
Weight: 24 g
Description: Bronze Age (-2350 to 410) to Roman flat axe: The axe is made from cast copper alloy. The axe is an elongated triangle, with rounded terminals. In profile the butt is tapers in thickness towards its edge. The thickest portion, in profile, is the point between the blade and butt. The blade, in profile tapers to a blunt, rounded edge. The axe is slightly asymmetrical in the centre and at the blade edge.



The surface of the axe has a well-developed light green-brown coloured patina.



The axe measures 48.05mm in length, 21.24mm in width, 6.95mm thickness and weighs 24.0g.



The date of the axe is not certain. Flat axes initially date to the early Bronze Age, c. 2000 to 1600 BC, but do tend to be larger and have a facetted edge if it were used, for example WAW-049216. It is possibly this example is a model or miniature axe as the blade does not appear to be functional, unless it has been over used. Votive axes are known from the Roman period, such as DOR-8BF889. The surface condition may suggest the axe is dating to the Bronze Age rather than the Roman period, but as it is not certain a wide date range will be given.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1000)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Letcombe Regis, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 46 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight: 102.5 g
Description: A copper alloy cast blade edge fragment of a Bronze Age axe c. 1500 - 700 BC. The cutting edge is splayed and curved with 'V' groves in the sides where the blade has been hammered into form. There are worn casting flashes to the sides. The axe has a clean break parallel with the blade and 4.5 cm above the tip of the blade.



There is a darker area of casting in the centre of the break which may be indicative of the bottom of the socket having been just above that break. Perhaps it may also be due to some form of deferential cooling of the core. It may be possibility that it is a fragment from an earlier form of palstave axe. That would take the date back to around 1500 BC.



The surface has a dark green patina now damaged by age, the blade edge shows no sign of use, hence this may have been a votive offering.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE ( to )
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Whitfield, Dover, Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 43.3 mm
Thickness: 11.7 mm
Weight: 75.5 g
Description: A fragment of a Late Bronze Age copper alloy Socketed Axehead (c.1150BC - 800BC).



The cutting edge of the axehead flares outwards to form a convex cutting edge which is complete, relatively unworn, quite sharp to the touch and is 49.1mm wide. In side view it is 'V' shaped and the casting seam is visible on both concave sides. The seam is closer to one face than the other.



At the broken end of the axehead are the remains of a socket 18.2mm long, 2.5mm wide and 1.8mm deep. The break is irregular and old but not particularly worn.



The metal has a mid-green, glossy patina. The axehead is 49.1mm wide at the blade end, 29.5mm wide at the socket end, 43.3mm long and 11.7mm thick. It weighs 75.5g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder