dejp3/bronze-age-objects-pas huggingface dataset:
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -1200)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Tywardreath and Par, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 60.5 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight: 189.95 g
Description: Cast copper alloy palstave or flanged axe blade, trapezoidal in plan, rhomboidal in profile and rectangular in section, at the broken end. The opposite blade end tapers to a rounded and damaged edge in profile. The blade is broad and incurved or inturned, instead of flanged, at the cutting edge and has the remains of what might be the tip of a moulded 'V' or shield at the broken end, but this is made more pronounced by corrosion, and it does not extend any further down the centre of the blade. On the opposite face there is a large cavity near the broken edge which was probably where a large lump of corrosion product has come away from the body of the blade. This makes it difficult to see if there was similar moulding on this face. The entire surface is corroded and pitted so that decorative details are lost. The line of one casting seam is still evident down one side of the blade, but the other side is too corroded to make it out. The edges of the sides of the blade, though worn, are still slightly raised, proud of each of the faces. The palstave is missing the central flanged section with stop-ridge for the haft, any side-loop that might have once been there, and the butt end. The lack of stylistic features make it difficult to date the palstave.


Rohl & Needham (1998) illustrate an example of a palstave with a similar shape and slightly flanged blade on page 129, Fig.30, No.145, which is dated to the Taunton phase, c.1400-1275 BC.


Pearce (1983) illustrates similar 'Crediton-type' palstaves with inturned blades, straight sides with slight upraising, and V-shaped mouldings, from Perranzabuloe, Truro and Veryan in Cornwall on pages 577, 579-580, Plates 16,18-19, Nos.125, 144a & 147b.


The Crediton type palstaves from the South West date from the Acton Park phase of the Middle Bronze Age, c.1500-1400 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-1000 to -600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Brailes, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 16.4 mm
Thickness: 1.95 mm
Weight: 2 g
Description: An incomplete cast copper alloy blade probably dating from the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, that is c. 1000-600BC. The incomplete blade is broadly sub-triangular which expands towards the cutting edge. There are two horizontal fine incisions on one blade face, the other is undecorated. The artefact narrows towards the missing tang. The thin triangular-shaped blade suggests that this object was either a chisel or leather-working knife or else, a single-edges 'Hallstatt' razor with two or one small loops at the top.



The artefact is 16.4mm in length, 24.3mm wide, 1.95mm thick (max) 1.15mm thick at the blade and weighs 2.0 grams
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Dagger (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2100 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Tebay, Eden, Cumbria (North West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 57 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 11.49 g
Description: A very worn blade tip, possibly coming from a copper alloy dagger dating from the Early Bronze Age, around 2100-1500BC. The fragmetnt is extremely worn and the surface pitted on both side. It is uncertain if it had a midrib, though it is not likely. The cross-section was probably oblong/oval rather than diamong-shaped. It appears to be from a two-edged dagger, dirk or possibly rapier, though judging by its size it is more likely that it came from a dagger or dirk.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ewell, Epsom and Ewell, Surrey (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 31.38 mm
Weight: 8.75 g
Description: 
The tip of a cast copper alloy spear of Middle to Late Bronze Age date.


Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axe (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1700 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Wrington, North Somerset, North Somerset (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Description: Bronze Age Arreton Down type flanged axe, from the Aylesford and Arreton periods, c. 1700-1500 BC.

The handle is rectangular and only expand to meet the blade three quarters down its length.  The side flanges are low and are at their highest in the central point of the handle. The blade is semi-circular and at its widest point measures 87mm wide. The blade is narrowed and has a thin cutting edge all along the blade edge. The butt of the axe is semicircular. 

The first half of the handle, behind the blade, has been decorated with a series of engraved lines.  These consist of six horizontal bands each containing a zigzagged line, flanked either end by four bands containing alternating zigzagged or hatched decoration.


A parallel was found at Westbury on Tyrm which displays similar markings


Langmaid N G, 1976, Bronze Age Metalwork in England and Wales, Shire Publications Ltd
Notes: 
Images taken and supplied by finder 

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Raunds, East Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 43.64 mm
Thickness: 8.96 mm
Weight: 13.2 g
Description: A very worn fragment of Middle to Late Bronze Age (1500 BC - 800 BC) copper alloy socketed spearhead, consisting of the very tip only. It measures 43.64mm in length and max.14.44x8.96mm at the (old) break. It weighs 13.2g.


The midrib is circular in cross-section, the blades either side triangular in cross-section. The edges of the blades are much worn and at the tip turn inwards sharply (3.38x3.47mm).


The patina is almost all lost but where it survives shows a defining groove flanking the central mid-rib.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Dagger (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1900 to -1600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ackworth, Wakefield, Wakefield (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 150 mm
Description: A cast copper-alloy dagger dating from the Early Bronze Age, about 1900 BC - 1600 BC. It is a flat riveted knife-dagger type. The blade is slightly bent but seems to be almost complete. It has a mid rib on each face and the blade edges are bevelled. The sides of the blade are slightly convex, but are almost straight. At the hilt, they flare outwards and then meet to form a pointed end. A copper alloy rivet survives in the rivet hole on one side of the hilt. It is at the widest point. The other side is damaged and broken across the rivet hole. The rivet has expanded ends and is sub-circular in section. The organic hilt which would have probably been  carved from bone or antler is lost. None of the daggers on the PAS database have quite the same shape, but for other Bronze Age daggers compare KENT-8D3476 and LANCUM-EDDE97. Ben Roberts of the British Museum comments that: "This example is of a sub-type that is larger (generally c. 10 cm), with two rivet holes, and which is  found throughout Scotland, Yorkshire and the Pennines (see Gerloff 1976,  165-168, nos. 286-294)."
Notes: 
This object has been recorded from images kindly provided by the finder, and has not been examined by the FLO.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axe (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2150 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Frisby on the Wreake, Melton, Leicestershire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 53 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight: 183.6 g
Description: The front part and cutting edge of a cast copper alloy axehead of Bronze Age date. The broken rear face is sub rectangular in section. The blade flares widely and still has a keen cutting edge despite corrosion. The axehead is in poor condition with pitting over all surfaces including the broken rear face, suggesting breakage in antiquity. It is 53mm long, 65mm wide, 12mm thick and weighs 183.6g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: West Hanney, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 54.43 mm
Thickness: 4.56 mm
Weight: 6.4 g
Description: A cast copper alloy awl or tracer, probably dating to the Late Bronze Age (c. 1150-800 BC).  The awl has an almost flat sub-rectangular cross section at the tang end, which  widens to become more rounded in the centre of the awl. The awl then  tapers to a point. There is some debate as to the date of such  awls, which probably first  appeared in the Late Bronze Age but could  conceivably have continued to  have been made until much later; here the  patina does suggests a prehistoric date.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1400 to -1250)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Cadeleigh, Mid Devon, Devon (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 139.5 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Description: 
A Middle Bronze Age copper-alloy palstave axehead.



Both sides of the 'socket' comprise a flat area flanked by a pair of flanges, with a stop ridge at the bottom. The blade has a longitudinal ridge at the centre of both of its wide faces, and its sides flare towards a rounded cutting edge. A right-angled loop is located on one of the narrower side faces, at the junction between the socket and blade. Extending from both the top and bottom ends of this loop are traces of a casting seam.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1000 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: St. Enoder, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 101 mm
Thickness: 20.7 mm
Weight: 175.69 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy socketed axehead with defined slightly raised collar and the remains of a sideloop below it, faceted edges to the sides of the axe and a flanged blade. The collar is incomplete but the side that survives is about 20 mm long and shows that it flanges outwards slightly and would have had a rolled edge. The two base sections of the side loop that remain at either end are cruciform in section and are now worn smooth. The blade is triangular in plan and profile and the socket is sub-rectangular in section. The casting seams on the sides of the axe have been filed down but there are internal central ridges down the interior of each of the four walls which are impressions of the clay core, perhaps from fractures when it was heated.The surface of the axe is pitted and corroded in places, especially on the less complete face, but much of the original surface remains and the deep green patina survives.


Faceted axes were originally an East Anglian type, influenced by a Northern European form, but have since been found to be more prevalent further west, and in this case, likely influenced directly from Brittany (see below).


Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar but narrower faceted socketed axe from Stogursey, Somerset on page 530, Plate 86, No.746c which is dated from the Ewart Park phase (c.1000-800 BC). Another example of a faceted axe with a shorter collar from Battlegore, Somerset is illustrated on page 540, plate 94, No.784d, which was associated with an end-winged axe, a Breton type from Armorica dating from the Ewart Park phase also. A local example from Gillan, St Antony-in-Meneage with the same sub-rectangular section, slight collar above the side loop and faceting is illustrated on page 399, Plate 1, No.2a, and was found with an ingot dating from the Late Bronze Age.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1100 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Battle, Rother, East Sussex (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 67.82 mm
Thickness: 26.3 mm
Description: A large part of the lower part of a plain socketed axe of Late Bronze Age date including the blade.  The surviving depth of the socket is 38mm and the wall section at the breaks varies from 2.99mm to 1.80mm. The blade is very worn and the surface is now powdery. The sides of the axe are almost parallel.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flanged Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Linwood, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 134 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight: 269 g
Description: Bronze age copper alloy flanged axe, 134mm long, 29mm wide and 13mm thick. The object is in fair condition and weighs 269grams. The object  is rectangular in section and form with a slightly flared, off centre  rounded blade, 42mm wide.  It has sub triangular flanges (which in total are 23mm wide) protruding from each side of each surface, which begin about half way down its length,  and these taper to a sharp point at the butt end.  There are just a few patches of original surface left intact and it is quite corroded.


The form matches LANCUM -F8B182 and -OD2405, dated to the middle Bronze age.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Sword (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Holton Le Moor, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 38 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Description: Fragment of a middle to late Bronze Age sword (circa 1500 BC to 700 BC). The fragment is lozenge in cross-section with narrow flanges measuring circa 6mm in width on one side and 4mm in width on the other. The edges are abraded but show areas of patina of the same colour as the body. The breaks at either end are irregular but patinated.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Abenbury, Wrexham, Wrexham (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Description: 
A copper alloy blade tip of an early bronze age socketed axe.

Subsequent action: Donated to a museum
Object: Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period:  to  (2300 to 1900)
Material: Copper Silver
Found: Mochdre, Powys, Powys (Wales)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 110 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight: 228.2 g
Description: Early Bronze Age, near complete copper flat axe. The butt is straight and narrow but is moderately thick (with a width of 19mm and a thickness of 5.5mm). The sides are markedly straight for their entire lengths, gradually diverging from the butt, towards the gently curved blade. There is some damage to the blade being heavily eroded - one blade tip having been lost. The more complete blade tip shows minimal flaring, producing a trapezoidal form. The axe form is unusual within the British and Irish traditions and is possibly a variant of copper trapezoidal axes with a continental European provenance. X-rays showed that there is a dense metal coating of the axe with high levels of silver, plus antimony and lead.


Thought to belong to the period of 2,300-1900BC (Lodwick. M, 2011)
Subsequent action: Donated to a museum
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: West Hanney, Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 16 mm
Thickness: 1.3 mm
Weight: 0.8 g
Description: The tip of a cast copper alloy probable spearhead, dating to the Middle Bronze Age (1500-1150 BC). It has a broad lentoid shaped  mid-rib, with worn edges. The base of the socket appears to survive.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1250 to -1125)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: St. Clement, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 85.6 mm
Thickness: 13.6 mm
Weight: 68.39 g
Description: Cast copper alloy chisel, rectangular in plan and section, and triangular in profile. The socketed collar is missing and the blade end has been hammered flat so that is has flanged outwards slightly on both sides. The casting seam on both sides has been filed down, and there are now lumps of corrosion product following these lines which obscure the detail. The surface is generally corroded and pitted with patches of powdery bright green bronze disease.


Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar socketed chisel from Bodmin, Cornwall on page 563, Plate 2, No.12 and another from Bovey Tracey, Devon on page 585, Plate 24, No.191, which is dated to the Taunton-Penard phases.


Needham and Rohl (1998) illustrate a similar example of a socketed chisel on page 132, Fig.34, No.175, which is referred to as Penard metalwork.


Late Middle Bronze Age. Penard phase c.1250-1125 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Dilton Marsh, Wiltshire, Wiltshire (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 46.42 mm
Thickness: 14.45 mm
Weight: 51.2 g
Description: A fragment of Late Bronze Age (1150-800 BC) Socketed Axehead, consisting of the cutting edge only and broken just above the start of the socket. It measures 46.42x29.36x(max)14.45mm and weighs 51.2g.


The cutting edge is expanded but has edge loss through corrosion. The casting flash is visible, smoothed down, on one side. There are traces of possible iron staining or corrosion in the socket and on both faces near the break. Where the patina survives it is smooth and orangey-brown. However it is missing in large patches, revealing a bright green colour beneath.


The socket is rectangular in cross-section, and the fragment itself triangular in cross-section.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Ring (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-2150 to 100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Castle, Bedford, Bedford (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Diameter: 18 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 5.32 g
Description: Copper alloy ring, probably dating to the Bronze Age or Iron Age. This example is similar to rings found in Suffolk (SF-7BD5C1), Norfolk (NMS-688046), North Lincolnshire (NLM-2CB634) and Shropshire (HESH-4B9AC5).


The object is 5mm thick, 18mm in exterior diameter, 8.5mm in interior diameter and weighs 5.32g.


The use of this object is difficult to interpret. It may have had a decorative function in harness or personal dress. It shows no particular signs of wear, but is chipped with a small chunk missing on the outside edge. The surface of the object has a dark brown patina with pitting, and orange and green corrosion where the surface has been broken.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Castle, Bedford, Bedford (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 59 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 5.32 g
Description: Bronze Age copper alloy awl. The object has a light brown patina broken only by light green corrosion in two spots along its length and at the sharp end, where a dull point remains. The awl is circular in section near the point, but becomes square in section around the middle.


The object is 59mm long, 5mm wide, 5mm thick and weighs 5.52g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Awl (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Thaxted, Uttlesford, Essex (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 55 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 4.67 g
Description: Bronze Age copper alloy awl. The object has a dark brown patina broken by scratches showing as light brown around the sharp end, and by green corrosion at the very tip of the sharp end, and in a small spot on the side.


The point of the awl is very blunt and is circular in section. The section becomes sub-square two-thirds of the way along the awl's length, and then slopes to a thin sub-rectangular section at the other end.


The object is 55mm long, 4mm wide, 4mm thick and weighs 4.67g.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spearhead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Beech Hill, West Berkshire, West Berkshire (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 107 mm
Weight: 34.24 g
Description: A Middle to Late Bronze Age side-looped spearhead, now in two pieces. The point is missing as are the edges of the blade which have corroded away. The end of the socket is also missing as is one of the loops. The socket now measures 51.32mm and has been cast slightly off centre. The spear is covered in hard brown soil deposits.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-900 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Ludgvan, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Height: 18 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 18.77 g
Description: Cast copper alloy fragment of a flanged blade from a socketed axe, semi-circular in plan, triangular in profile and lozenge-shaped in section. The blade edge is worn and incomplete so that it is only flanged on one side. The broken edge reveals an oblong aperture which is the end of the socket for the haft or handle of the axe. The original surface has mostly corroded away and there are patches of light green bronze disease. There is not enough detail to precisely date this fragment within the Late Bronze Age, but some comparanda are offered below.


Pearce (1983) illustrates a similar broken blade fragment from Blandford, Dorset on page 607, Plate 46, No.348d, which is associated with rib and pellet socketed axes of the Ewart Park period c.900-800 BC.


Needham and Rohl (1998) illustrate a similar flanged blade on a 'South-eastern type' socketed axe on page 136, Fig.38, No.334, which is dated from the Ewart Park phase also.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-900 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Sennen, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 36 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight: 39.86 g
Description: Cast copper alloy fragment of a collar from a socketed axe, semi-circular in plan, B-shaped in profile and in section. The collar is quite substantial at about 12 mm deep and 9 mm thick, and there is quite a deep indented area below it before the body of the axe begins with a raised ridge. Along this ridge at one side of the axe is the remains of the base of the side loop, which has worn into a point. The surface is pitted and some of the original patina remains on the collar but the projecting sections have become worn and corroded and there are patches of light green bronze disease. There is not enough detail to precisely date this fragment within the Late Bronze Age, but some comparanda are offered below.


Pearce (1983) illustrates similar 'South-Eastern' socketed axes from St Goran, Cornwall on page 566, Plate 5, No.58, and from Totnes, Devon on page 602, Plate 41, No.308, which are dated from the Ewart Park period c.900-800 BC.


Needham and Rohl (1998) illustrate a similar 'South-Eastern' socketed axe with a circular socket, thick collar and a raised ridge on page 136, Fig.38, No.334, which is dated from the Ewart Park phase also.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Gouge (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-900 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Bigbury, South Hams, Devon (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 61 mm
Diameter: 18 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 31.49 g
Description: Incomplete cast copper alloy socketed gouge, semi-circular in plan, at the cutting edge, lozenge-shaped in profile and circular in section. The circular socketed end is broken and partly missing and the cutting edge is worn and nicked in two places and on one side. The gouge tapers in profile from the open end to a point at the cutting edge which is curved into a semi-circle so that it can gouge out sections of wood etc. The surface is pitted and some of the original patina remains on the inside and outside of the gouge, but the damaged edges have become worn and corroded and there are patches of light green bronze disease. Socketed gouges are first seen in the Ewart Park phase of the Late Bronze Age.


Pearce (1983) illustrates similar socketed gouges from St Keverne, Cornwall on page 570, Plate 9, No.75, from Blandford, Dorset on page 607, Plate 46, No.348f, from Lulworth, Dorset on page 623, Plate 62, No.502, and from Stogursey, Somerset on page 649, Plate 88, No.746e, which are dated from the Ewart Park period c.900-800 BC.


Needham and Rohl (1998) illustrate a similar socketed gouge with a circular socket on page 136, Fig.38, No.323, which is dated from the Ewart Park phase also.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1400 to -1000)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Beal, Selby, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 98 mm
Thickness: 25.3 mm
Weight: 150.07 g
Description: A cast copper alloy palstave axe, probably of the Taunton phase, dating from 1400-1000BC. It has an oval flange on each side, extending above and below the blade. The blade itself tapers to a very slightly flared cutting edge. The axe has a patchy, dark green patina. It is 98mm long, 27.7mm wide and 25.3mm thick. It weighs 150.07gm.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -1300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Southfleet, Dartford, Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 141.11 mm
Thickness: 25.49 mm
Weight: 335 g
Description: An Middle Bronze Age unlooped palstave axe. The axe is complete and in good condition and has a crudely incised shield pattern on either side below the stop ridge. Both side show extensive evidence of hammering as well as sharpening striations on the blade.


The length of the axe is 141.11mm and the width of the blade is 53.96mm. The maximum thickness is 25.49mm and the axe weighs 335g.



Peter Reavill comments:


This is a Primary Shield pattern unloopeed pastave. The notch in the butt seems relatively common.The axe is very wedge-like in shape and the out-turned crescentic tips of the cutting edge are  relatively uncomnmon in this style of axe. There are some features that  remind me of the later short flanged axes of the type Lissett, variant  Baldersby (plate 51-2 of Schmidt and Burgess)
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1500 to -1300)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Nutfield, Tandridge, Surrey (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 143.16 mm
Thickness: 28.97 mm
Weight: 359 g
Description: An unlooped palstave axe. The axe is complete, except for the tip of the butt, and in good condition although the surfaces are now very rough. The length of the axe is 143.16mm and the width of the blade is 61.56mm. The thickness is 28.97mm and the axe weighs 359g. The axe has a central raised rib and raised sides. The septum measures c7.5mm above the stop ridge. There is a casting void behind the stop ridges.


Peter Reavill comments:


This is anearly mid rib palstave  - the raised sides are prominent and a little  odd - but generally OK. The look of this axe is slightly strange  though with the prominent stop ridge that extends out in profile and the apparent casting flaws either side of the mid rib. This comes from  the end of the sequence of unlooped palstaves - most probably type Liswerry or possibly Southall (plate 57 Schmidt and Burgess)
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Sword (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Betchworth, Mole Valley, Surrey (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 20.08 mm
Thickness: 4.55 mm
Weight: 0.95 g
Description: A worn 20mm tapering length of the blade of a sword of Middle or Late Bronze Age date.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Knife (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1100 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: READING, Reading, Reading ()
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 146.2 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 32.45 g
Description: A late Bronze Age tanged knife, almost complete save for the rounded tip of the blade. The knife is 146.20mm long and measures 24.04mm across the blade. The thickness of the blade is 2.24mm and the tang is c3mm thick across its widest point.


The blade, which is both unpatinated and still sharp, tapers outwards towards a rounded shoulder which leads to the narrower tang. Corrosion products on the tang and shoulder appear suggestive of the remains of a handle.  The date range for this type of knife is c1100 to c800BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Blade (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Potterspury, South Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 38 mm
Weight: 2.95 g
Description: A cast copper alloy blade tip, dating from the Middle to Late Bronze Age c.1500-800 BC. Chipping along both edges makes accurate defination difficult, and the fragment could be the tip of a sword, dagger, rapier or knife.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: , , Kent (South East)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 150.7 mm
Thickness: 28.2 mm
Weight: 450 g
Description: A complete, but concreted, Middle Bronze Age cast copper-alloy palstave  of Acton Park (phase 2) or   Taunton phases (c. 1500 - c. 1150 BC). It is  unlooped with high, curved flanges (max. H. 28.2mmmm), fused to the stop  ridge. The width at the butt is 23.4mm. The  flanges start to rise gradually from the butt, reaching a maximum  height of c. 12.6mm above the septum  (the area between the flange facets and the stop ridge). The stop ridge is stands c. 8mm  above the septum. There is a shield shaped molding beyond the stop  ridge, and fused to it, on both faces (c. 19.5 by 18.0mm). This is  bisected by a molding ridge (seam) running the length of the blade on  both faces; this starts on the lower blade and  terminates before the stop. There are then four parallel ridges decorating the septum near the stop but corrosion obscures where they terminate. There are further longitudinal ridges (casting seams) central  on the sides; these have been finished by trimming the casting flash and  hammering. The blade is 57.5mm across.  The object has suffered heavy corrosion. Where it survives the patina  is dark brown; the metal is generally a mid-brown color. Spread all over the palstave are aqua colored  concretions possibly  from deposition in water.


In total  it is 15.7mm long, 57.7mm wide, 28.2mm thick and weighs 450 grams.
Notes: 
The palstave was discovered by the finder in a collection of possessions belonging to his father, Sidney Nicholls, who was a local Archaeologist. The exact find spot for the palstave is not know.


http://finds.org.uk/bronzeage/objects/axe: The term palstave is very misleading as it comes from the Icelandic  'Paalstab' meaning a digging tool not a type of axe. However the term is  used in British archeology to describe where there is a stop  and the flanges disappear into the stop. Palstaves are also thicker  below the stop. They are usually decorated on the blade and as time went  on developed loops.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1900 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Baschurch, Shropshire, Shropshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 48 mm
Thickness: 10.95 mm
Weight: 96.1 g
Description: A fragment of a cast copper-alloy Bronze Age axehead. Only the tip of the blade and a small portion of the body of the axehead survive. No traces of a socket remain in the break of the axe, indicating that it is probably not a socketed axe from the later Bronze Age. The blade is flared and slightly crescent shaped, perhaps suggesting that the axehead is either a flanged or palstave type of middle Bronze Age date, which would provide a date range of between circa 1900 to 1100 BC.


The incomplete axehead measures 48 mm long, 44.82 mm wide at the blade, 29.32 mm wide at the broken end, 10.95 mm thick and it weighs 96.1 grams. It has a rough and abraded green/brown patina. The relative consistency between the patina at the break and that on the surface of the axhead suggests that the break is an ancient one, and not one caused recently by plough damage.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2150 to -1500)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Green Hammerton, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 47.15 mm
Thickness: 8.12 mm
Weight: 58.31 g
Description: A copper alloy flat axe fragment dating from the Early Bronze Age (2150 BC - 1500 BC). Only the cutting end survives. The butt is missing due to an ancient and well worn break across the middle of the axe. The break has taken half the surface of one face too. The axe head is rectangular in section. The cutting edge is flared at the sides but damaged. The surfaces of the axe are pitted and corroded, with a well developed green patina.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Sword (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1140 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: St. Sampson, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 30 mm
Thickness: 6.3 mm
Weight: 21.77 g
Description: Fragment of a cast copper alloy sword blade, rectangular in plan and profile and lozenge-shaped in section. Both cutting edges are worn and incomplete and the perpendicular edges to these are broken so that the original length of the blade is unknown as well as the position of this fragment along it, though it is at the end that tapers towards the tip, as any raised area has flattened out in section. The smooth dark green patina survives better on one face of the blade than the other, which has an uneven surface of raised areas of corrosion product.


The lozenge-shaped section of the blade without a defined central mid-rib suggests that this might be part of a sword from the Late Wilburton or Ewart Park phases of the Late Bronze Age, c.1140-800 BC.


Needham & Rohl (1998) illustrate two similar lozenge-shaped sections of Ewart Park swords on page 135, Fig.37, Nos.386-7.


Pearce (1983) illustrates similar sections from a Ewart Park and a Late Wilburton sword, from Cranborne in Dorset, on page 665, Plate 104, Nos.365-6.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Menwith with Darley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 123.5 mm
Height: 40.21 mm
Thickness: 12.64 mm
Weight: 184.4 g
Description: A cast copper-alloy palstave axe of the Middle Bronze Age, 1500 BC-1150 BC.


The axe is very worn and corroded, though it is nearly complete. The crescent-shaped blade tapers at its shoulders to the butt of the axehead. A very narrow stop is visible on the septum, but there is no trace of anything other than minor flanges over the septum of the axe. The butt has suffered some minor damage to its rounded end. There is no evidence for a loop on the upper face of of the axehead.


The surface is relatively smooth, but still pitted and uneven in its condition.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1300 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Roxby cum Risby, North Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 18.7 mm
Thickness: 10.1 mm
Weight: 13.59 g
Description: Fragment from the butt of a Middle Bronze Age palstave. The object has an I -section with flanges rising on three of its four sides as viewed where it has broken, a result of the uneven break. Two of the flanges, symmetrically or diagonally opposite each other, are grooved on their outer edges. The extent of patination indicates it was broken in antiquity. A hoard of two palstave axes from this parish is currently going through Treasure process, but this object comes from a distinct findspot on higher ground. Suggested date: Middle to Late Bronze Age, 1300-1150.



Length: 18.7mm, Width: 24.9mm, Thickness: 10.1mm, Weight: 13.59gms.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Spear (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1100)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Winterton, North Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 48.9 mm
Thickness: 7.4 mm
Weight: 13.22 g
Description: Copper alloy spearhead fragment. Cast lozenge-shaped mid rib and the slightly tapered stubs of the blade of a spear head, probably from fairly close to the tip. The break at the wider end appears fairly recent, that towards the tip is more probably ancient damage. Heavily abraded. The angular section and prominent rib might both associate this with the side looped spear heads of the Middle Bronze Age; examples displayed at the NorthLincolnshireMuseum come from Waddingham, Scawby and Messingham. Suggested date: Middle Bronze Age, 1500-1100 BC.



Length: 48.9mm, Width: 12.6mm, Thickness: 7.4mm, Weight: 13.22gms.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Flat Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1900 to -1700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Goldsborough, Harrogate, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 78.44 mm
Thickness: 10.75 mm
Weight: 88.7 g
Description: A copper alloy developed flat axe dating from the Early Bronze Age period. It is probably a Willerby style axe. It has a crescent shaped blade which is wider than the body of the axe. The original cutting egde does not survive. The body of the axe is rectangular in section and is unusually thick for a flat axe, suggesting development towards palstave forms. It does not have flanges but the edges are very slightly raised. There is no stop ridge, but the thickest part of the axe is in the centre of the body, and the change of angle forms a line where the stop ridge would develop on later axes. The sides are concave and the faces are two flat facets. The butt also tapers to a thin wedge which may have been crescentic, but is no longer complete. Much of the original surface survives which is a smooth brown patina. Where this is missing, the surface is pitted and rough, and is slightly more green. 



The axe appears to be similar to number 55 on page 125 of Rohl and Needham's BM Occasional Paper number 102 which is described as Willerby metalwork, class 4 axe. Willerby metalwork dates from 1900BC - 1700 BC. There are few other axes of this type on the PA database for comparison: LANCUM-049465 is more severely damaged, and LVPL-004D33 has more developed flanges.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Ingot (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-2150 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Leavening, Ryedale, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 63.11 mm
Thickness: 32.59 mm
Weight: 233 g
Description: 
A possible Bronze Age "bun" ingot of copper alloy. It is a rounded lump of copper alloy which is roughly D shaped in section. The surface is pitted and there are small bubbles in the metal. Modern damage revaeals the metal to be a bright copper colour but the surface is patinated to a smooth bright turquoise in areas, with patches of dark green and purple in other areas. Compare many other examples on the PAS database. It is also possible that this object is casting waste of unknown date.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Chisel (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -800)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Armitage with Handsacre, Lichfield, Staffordshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 43.24 mm
Thickness: 6.06 mm
Weight: 13.6 g
Description: A cast copper-alloy socketed chisel of late Bronze Age date. Length 43.24 mm, width 22.72 mm, thickness 6.06 mm, weight 13.6 grams.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Socketed Axehead (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to IRON AGE (-900 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: CLAYTON, Mid Sussex, West Sussex (South East)
Discovery method: Other chance find
Length: 108.4 mm
Weight: 209 g
Description: A complete cast copper-alloy transitional Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age socketed axehead (c. 900-700 BC). The axehead has a facetted body, with one wider face which widens towards the blade and a flanking narrow facet to either side. The socket mouth is round with a square internal socket and there seem to be four casting jets which are visible on the mouth, but flattened. A small collar or moulded ridge is visible directly below the socket mouth and the socket mouth itself is quite rounded on the external surface. The casting lines on either side edge have been trimmed and flattened, but not smoothed. The loop is D-shaped in plan and bears the flattened casting line on its external edge. The blade end widens from the axehead body and flares slightly at the lower blade. The colour of the metal is overall grey-green, which indicates a higher tin content; areas towards the blade end exhibit a high bronze-coloured patina. There is a small hole on one face near the blade which may be due to a casting bubble; it seems to perforate through the face and into the socket. It measures an overall 108.4 mm long, 54.86 mm maximum width at blade, 35.64 maximum outer width at socket mouth; the internal diameter of the socket is 26.9 mm and the depth of the socket is approximately 88 mm. The axehead weighs 209 grams.


Because of the socket orientation within the axehead, which is back to front, this example may be a smaller derivative of Sompting type axes.  According to Bronze Age specialist Dot Boughton, the facets indicate that this axehead should be dated to the Late Bronze Age rather than the Early Iron Age, which more typically has ribs instead of facets (pers. comm. 6/2012).
Notes: 
This axehead was discovered within a short distance of Wolstonbury Hill, a well-known Bronze Age site. Within the axehead, cartridges were found which suggests perhaps that this object has been discovered previously and re-interred in nearby soil. It is therefore possible that this axehead comes directly from the Wolstonbury site. It was discovered by a Friend of Wolstonbury and reliquished to the Wolstonbury Trust for keeping as part of the collection.

Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Penannular Ring (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -800)
Material: Copper Gold
Found: Wixford, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 12.8 mm
Thickness: 4 mm
Weight: 2.68 g
Description: Report to H. M. Coroner on find of potential Treasure from Wixford, Warwickshire



2012 T333 Description Small penannular ring, round-sectioned, with narrow stripes of yellow and paler gold. The decoration is very worn but clearly visible internally, close to one terminal. The ring comprises a gold covering over a base metal core. Some dirt and corrosion blocking gap between terminals. Diameter: 12.8 x 14 mm; width of gap 1.5 mm; width and breadth of hoop 4 mm; weight 2.68g. Composition See appended report. Identification A well known Late Bronze Age type, decorative in character, dating to circa 1150-750 BC. As the object is prehistoric and contains precious metal it qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Designation Order 2002.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder after being disclaimed as Treasure
Object: Palstave (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1500 to -1150)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Thormanby, Hambleton, North Yorkshire (Yorkshire and the Humber)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 143.77 mm
Height: 44.26 mm
Thickness: 14.38 mm
Weight: 321 g
Description: A cast copper-alloy palstave axe of the Middle Bronze Age, 1500 BC-1150 BC.


The axe is worn, but it is complete. The  crescent-shaped blade tapers at its shoulders to the butt of the  axehead. A very low relieve stop is visible on each face of the septum, with triangular flanges over and under the septum.  The butt has suffered some minor damage to its rounded end. There is no  evidence for a loop on the upper face of of the axehead.


The surface is relatively consistent in pitting/quality and colour.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Axe (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-1150 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Worfield, Shropshire, Shropshire (West Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 57.91 mm
Thickness: 15.92 mm
Description: A fragment of a cast copper alloy axe. The blade portion of the axe remains with the broken edge traversing the axe and revealing the tip of the socket. The blade cutting edge is asymmetrical, rounded and blunt, and is convex in plan. The blade has slightly flared sides, and on these side faces the casting seams are still evident. The break edge of the axe is not recent as there are traces of a patina on the break that matches the traces of dark green patina on the surface of the axe. The surface of the axe is abraded with only traces of a well developed patina. From the cutting edge to the broken edge the axe measures 32.08mm, and from the corner of the blade to the broken edge it measures 57.91mm, across the broken edge it measures 15.92mm thick. It weighs 96.1g.


The axe is a socketed axe dating to the late Bronze Age, c.1150 to 700 BC.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Ingot (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to  (-1150 to -700)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: Gwinear-Gwithian, Cornwall, Cornwall (South West)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 63 mm
Height: 27 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight: 468.8 g
Description: Fragment of a cast copper alloy plano-convex ingot, sub-triangular in plan and profile, and plano-convex in section. The fragment rises up from its semi-circular outer edge, which is about 10 mm in thickness, to the centre of the ingot, where it is broken, and 27 mm in thickness or height. The two sides which look deliberately waisted may have been filed after sections were taken out of the ingot, and have since worn smooth and corroded to form rounded yet defined rectangular edges. There are also a few pits in the base, side and upper surface, which were probably formed from air pockets during the casting process.


Caches of copper alloy ingots have been found in pottery vessels at sites such as Porthcothan in Cornwall, and fragments of ingots have been found in Late Bronze Age metalworker's hoards from St Erth and Tregonning, for example. These plano-convex ingots tend to date from the Late Bronze Age (c.1150-700 BC).


Pearce (1983) illustrates four incomplete plano-convex ingots from Mountbatten, Plymouth, on page 597, Plate 36, No.281t, which were found associated with Late Bronze Age socketed axes, gouges, chisels and knives, and two from Churston Ferrers in Devon on page 601, Plate 40, Nos.306a-b.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder
Object: Unidentified Object (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to POST MEDIEVAL (-900 to 1600)
Material: Copper alloy 
Found: West Rasen, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire (East Midlands)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Length: 30.09 mm
Weight: 11.45 g
Description: A fragment of a cast copper alloy object of uncertain (but most probably post medieval) date. The object forms a terminal; it tapers, has a square section and has a blunt end. The length is 30-09mm.
Subsequent action: Returned to finder