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Early to Middle Bronze Age bronze axe, probably either a Developed Flat axe or of Later Short-flanged type and of second millennia BC date.

The axe is incomplete missing the butt (with a surviving length of 59.2mm and a weight of 64.7g). The axe is of sub rectangular section and is comparatively slender and stout (with a width at the break of 18.0mm and a thickness of 8.8mm). The axe fragment reaches its thickest point (at 9.4mm), 36mm from the blade edge. The sides of the axe are straight and near parallel for the length of the blade. The casting seams are not discernible on the sides of the axes. The blade faces are plain and slightly convex, both across their lengths and widths. There are no flanges on the surviving blade faces. The blade width expands sharply at the position where the blade facet begins (13mm from the blade edge). The blade edge is now comparatively straight, turning at the edges and has lost the blade tips (with a surviving blade width of 28.1mm). The blade edge appears to have been blunted through impact. There is the suggestion of sharpening striations running perpendicular to the blade edge but these have been obscured by a varnish coating of the axe. One face of the axe has probable stress fractures near the break and also has two impact marks (both 6.6mm long and 1.5mm wide), presumably from a bladed tool, perhaps another axe. The other face has a casting flaw near the break. The axe has a pale to dark green surface patina and has a recent gloss coating.

The missing butt makes identification and typological dating difficult. It is unclear to what degree of finishing the axe has undergone and whether the blade and flanges were yet to be worked. The ‘blocky’ nature of the axe would appear to either suggest a Developed flat axe of Metalworking Assemblage IV – V or a Later Short-flanged type of Taunton - Penard metalworking. Developed Flat axes can be dated to Needham’s (1996) Period 3 dated to c. 2,050 – 1,700BC and Later Short-flanged to Period 5, dated to c. 1,500 – 1,150BC. The apparent non introduction of lead into the bronze alloy may suggest an earlier technology and lend weight to an identification of a developed flat axe.

• Needham, S., 1996 Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age, 67, pp121 - 140..

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Created: Friday 12th March 2010
Updated: Thursday 24th February 2011