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SPEARHEAD
Unique ID: PUBLIC-6DE338
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Bronze Age socketed spearhead of uncertain type and of Middle to Late Bronze Age date, c. 1500 - 750BC
The spearhead is fragmentary and represented by the tip only (with a surviving length of 50.9mm, a maximum surviving width of 23.1mm and a weight of 18.6g). The end of the circular socket is present at the break (where it has a surviving depth of 17.6mm and an internal diameter at the break of 7.0mm). The socket continues along the blade as a prominent and rounded midrib (giving a maximum surviving thickness of 9.2mm at the break), which gradually narrows and thins towards the tip. The blade edges have been lost and the current blade edge is near-straight or slightly convex. A subtle blade facet is discernible where the surface is preserved, before a flat area, running parallel to the midrib (with a width of 1.4mm). The surface has a dark green patina where it survives and elsewhere is pale green.
Socketed spearheads begin in the Acton Park metalworking industry dated to the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age and continue to the Llyn Fawr Industry at the very end of the Bronze Age, although spearheads of the Llyn Fawr industry are rarely recovered, with most spearheads dating to the Ewart Park phase or before. Needham (1997) dates the corresponding Industries from his Period 5, begging c. 1500BC to the end of Period 7 at c. 750BC.
Class: Fragment
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Period from: BRONZE AGE
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Circa 1500 BC
Date to: Circa 750 BC
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 50.9 mm
Width: 23.1 mm
Weight: 18.6 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 21st July 2010
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: NMWPA 2010.42.1
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Ramsbury (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SU2669
Four figure Latitude: 51.419422
Four figure longitude: -1.627488
1:25K map: SU2669
1:10K map: SU26NE
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Needham, S.P. | 1996 | Chronology and periodisation in the British Bronze Age | Copenhagen | Wiley | 124-140 |
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