SOCKETED AXEHEAD

Copper alloy socketed axe head. Cast socketed single looped axe head, lightly flared towards its crescentic curved cutting edge. The plain narrower upper and lower sides each bear a clear central mould line; the other broader sides are flat and plain. At c.50mm in from the cutting edge, narrow grooves of width c.4.5mm appear at the arises where flat sides meet, and these continue until 5mm before the edge of the socket. This appears square with rounded corners externally, framing a rounded aperture measuring 27mm in both directions and with a thickened triangular section border. A single loop of length 17.5mm, width 6.5mm and height [i.e. protrusion] 7mm is set on one narrower side adjacent to the socket, with the mould line noted above continuing along it. Most of the object bears an appealing brownish patina; this has suffered only limited disruption by localised damage on one broader side, and is more extensively removed from the other, where a deeper dent also appears, presumably the result of plough strike. A chocolate brown material with an orange tinted stain where it is lost appears around the inner side of the mouth of the socket, and might even represent the otherwise decayed wood of a haft. The cutting edge remains sharp. The thickened socket mouth, which is amply reinforced at the point which would receive more stress than any other, adds to the general impression of a viable tool which remained fully functional at the time of its deposition. Suggested date: Late Bronze Age, 1000-800 BC.

Length: 101mm, Height (at cutting edge): 51.4mm, Width (at mouth of socket): 36.5mm, Thickness (at mouth of socket): 5.9mm, Weight: c.230gms