Record ID: NMGW-C905E7 - BRONZE AGE palstave

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Palstave

Unique ID: NMGW-C905E7

Object type certainty: Certain

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Unlooped Early Palstave of Group II, probably an example of the Early Midribbed palstaves of Type Coed Llan and belonging to the later Acton Park metalworking stage of the Middle Bronze Age. Needham (1996) grouped Acton 2 metalwork with Taunton and Penard as his Period 5 (c. 1500-1150BC), It could be suggested that this example falls in the earlier section of this date range.
The palstave is complete, but has lost much of the original surface, particularly on one face. The butt is straight and meets the sides at a right-angle. The sides are parallel as far as the stop, and then gently diverge and turn out sharply at the blade tips. The flanges are curved and define a pointed oval with the blade sides. Both sides exhibit the remnants of prominent broad casting flashes and one of the flanges has a prominent casting flaw. The blade edge is deeply curved. The septum is slightly rounded, and unusually, the stop is different on each face. The face with more of the surface surviving has a straight stop, which meets the flange facets in a right-angle, while the other face has a rounded U-shaped stop. The better preserved face has the suggestion of a very slight poorly defined mid-rib. The blade faces are flat with no working up at the sides, but have a slight depression before the blade facet. The blade is notably asymmetrical, with one blade tip positioned further back than the other. It is possible this may be the result of differential wear on the blade through use.

Notes:

This example can be best paralleled with numbers 795-6 (pp 127, plate 58) in Scmidt & Burgess’ catalogue (1981).

Class: Unlooped
Sub class: Group II

Subsequent actions

Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder

Chronology

Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Period from: BRONZE AGE [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Date from: Circa 1500 BC
Date to: Circa 1300 BC

Dimensions and weight

Length: 153 mm
Width: 66.2 mm
Thickness: 31.8 mm
Weight: 464.2 g
Quantity: 1

Materials and construction

Primary material: Copper alloy [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Manufacture method: Cast [scope notes | view all attributed records]

Spatial data

Region: Wales
County: Monmouthshire
District: Monmouthshire
Parish: Abergavenny

Method of discovery: Metal detector [scope notes]

Discovery dates

Date(s) of discovery: Monday 1st January 2001

Personal details

Found by: This information is restricted for your login.
Identified by: Mr Mark Lodwick - [view all attributed records]

Other reference numbers

Other reference: NMGWPA 2004.37

References cited

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