GOUGE

Two copper-alloy artefacts reported under the Treasure Act, see details below.

1. Socketed gouge - Plain mouth moulding with casting seams running down each side. The shaft tapers before flaring towards a semi-circular blade. The gouge is partially chipped and the patina is dark brown with some green corrosion. L: 77.0mm; W: 13.0-14.0mm; Wt: 58.4g 2. Bronze decorated fragment - four sets of two parallel rib decorations on a curved bronze fragment. Patina is dark brown. L: 26.0mm; W: 3.0-8.0mm; Wt: 5.1g

Discussion

Socketed gouges appear throughout Britain during the EwartPark metalwork phase dating them to the period c. 1020-800 BC (O'Connor 1980, 137 and 178; Needham et al. 1997). However, the parallel rib decoration on a curved decoration is harder to classify and is probably part of a socketed object.

Conclusion

Though contextual details are sparse, it is probable that these objects formed a single original deposit or hoard dispersed through the actions of the plough seems very likely. This material is eligible as Treasure under the new Treasure Order (2002) being a base-metal prehistoric find containing two or more metal objects.

Reference

Needham, S.P., Bronk Ramsay, C., Coombs, D., Cartwright, C., & Petitt, P. 1997. An independent chronology for British Bronze Age metalwork: the results of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Programme. Archaeology Journal 154, 55-107

O'Connor, B. (1980). Cross Channel Relations in the Later Bronze Age. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports 91

Ben Roberts