MINIATURE OBJECT

A complete cast copper alloy miniature votive axe of Late Bronze Age to Romano-British date (c.1200 BC-AD 400). The miniature axe head is sub-rectangular in plan and triangular in section with a total length of 17.6mm. The ‘mouth’ of the axe is solid (2.1mm thick x 6.7mm wide) with a small central drilled hole (c.1mm diameter) probably representing a socket. The width narrows on one side to an integrally cast loop (4.0mm long) with a small perforation c.1.6mm in diameter (the loop begins 2mm from the mouth). The sides of the object are straight and one side (same side as the loop) extends to the blade edge where the object reaches a maximum width of 8.8mm and a minimum thickness of 0.5mm. The other side extends more gradually to the blade edge. Both faces are straight/flat and gradually converge to the blade edge. There are no traces of decoration. The object is a dark green, almost black patina and weighs 1.735g.

Miniature axes have a largely south-west England distribution with a concentration in Wiltshire and Robinson catalogues 36 examples from the county. The axes are problematic to date because of a lack of reliable contextual information. The creation of a depression to represent a socket and the collar moulding would both seem to suggest a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age date. Miniature axes have been found associated with midden sites such as the 20 examples recovered at Whitchurch in Warwickshire (Waddington and Sharples 2011) and from Potterne in Wiltshire. Recent research is suggesting that metalwork deposition in middens in mostly occurring during the Earliest Iron Age (c. 750 - 550BC). Robinson (1995: 61) speculates that Late Bronze Age axes may have been venerated and copied as amulets into the Roman period.

A very similar object was recovered nearby (NMGW-D114B8). Other miniature votive axes recorded on the PAS database include NMGW-6C4D71, YORYM-8345DF, PUBLIC-C50638, SUR-2CAF73.

References:

Robinson, P. 1995. Miniature socketed bronze axes from Wiltshire. Devizes: Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.

Waddington, K. and Sharples, N. 2011. The excavations at Whitchurch 2006-2009: an interim report. Cardiff: Cardiff Studies in Archaeology.