HOARD

TREASURE CASE : 2011 T768.

Catalogue

(Part 1)

1. Cast copper alloy socketed axe. Late Bronze Age socketed axe with double mouth moulding. The upper collar is short and trumpet shaped. The loop emerges above the lower horizontal moulding. The sides are straight and taper slightly outwards towards the cutting edge which is only slightly convex. The axe is of Type Yorkshire (Schmidt and Burgess 1981: 223-238). Measurements: Length: 81.2mm; Blade width: 41.8mm. Body width (at loop): 31.0mm; Weight: 169.6g.

2. Cast copper alloy socketed axe blade fragment. Body fragment of a Late Bronze Age socketed axe. Measurements: Length: 27.7mm; Width of blade: 46.0mm; Weight: 50.9g.

3. Cast copper alloy socketed axe blade fragment. Body fragment of a Late Bronze Age socketed axe. Measurements: Length: 28.8mm; Width of blade: 44.7mm; Weight: 48.7g.

4. Cast copper alloy socketed axe blade fragment. Socket and mouth moulding of a Late Bronze Age socketed axe. Measurements: Length: 33.6mm; length: 26.2mm. Weight: 23.8g.

5. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Terminal of the grip of a Late Bronze Age sword. Terminal is unflanged and the surfaces are slightly concave in profile. Terminals of this form are common on earlier Step 1 and 2 Ewart Park swords (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 67). Measurements: Width of terminal: 41.2mm; Width of grip at break: 17.8mm; Length: 37.3mm; Weight: 20.3g.

6. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Remains of the hilt of a Late Bronze Age sword. Broken in middle of grip and below the shoulders. The hilt is also damaged on the sides, with both shoulder tips missing but part of a single rivet hole survives in one shoulder. What remains of the shoulders and grip are flanged, and the sides of the grip are convex. The presence of flanges and the use of only single rivet holes in the shoulders suggest a sword of earlier Step 1 or 2 Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 67). The lower break refits with object no. 7 (Refitting fragment: 1A). Measurements: Length: 76.2mm; Width of shoulders: 39.3mm; Width of grip at break: 21.5mm; Weight: 84.5g.

7. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Upper blade fragment of a Late Bronze Age leaf-shaped sword, with faceted blade section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Upper break refits with object no. 6 and lower break with object no. 8 (Refitting fragment: 1B). Measurements: Length: 92.0mm; Width at middle of blade fragment: 26.3mm; Weight: 94.5g.

8. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Middle blade fragment of a Late Bronze Age leaf-shaped sword, with faceted blade section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Upper break refits with object no. 7 (Refitting object: 1C). Measurements: Length: 73.5mm; Width at middle of blade fragment: 33.3mm; Weight: 45.2g.

9. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Upper part of the point of a leaf-shaped sword blade with facetted section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Lower break refits with object no. 10 (Refitting object: 2A). Measurements: Length: 49.5mm; Width: 33.3mm; Weight: 45.2g.

10. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Lower part of the point of a leaf-shaped sword blade, with faceted section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Upper break refits with object no. 9 (Refitting object: 2B). Measurements: Length: 11.2mm; Width at break: 32.5mm; Weight: 61.5g.

11. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Large upper or middle blade fragment with facetted section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Measurements: Length: 73.7mm; Width at middle of fragment: 27.6mm; Weight: 67.9g.

12. Cast copper alloy sword fragment. Small upper or middle blade fragment with facetted section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Measurements: Length: 30.4mm; Width at middle of fragment: 28.8mm; Weight: 23.5g.

13. Cast copper alloy blade fragment. Thin parallel sided blade fragment of a knife, with flattened section. Knifes are a common feature of the Late Bronze Age (Burgess 1982). Measurements: Length: 100.0mm; Width at middle of blade: 23.4mm; Weight: 30.2g.

14. Copper alloy casting jet and runner. Measurements: Length: 39.4mm; Width at top of runner: 29.9mm; Weight: 36.9g.

15. Copper alloy flat ingot. Width across top: 59.5mm. Length at right angle to top: 13.1mm; Weight: 202.7g.

16. Copper alloy linear casting waste. L. 78.6mm; Weight: 26g.

17. Copper alloy round casting waste. Width at widest point: 57.7mm; Length at right angles to widest point: 38.6mm; Weight: 60.1g.

(Part 2)

1/18. Tubular object with collar. Measurements: Length: 59.4mm; Width at collar: 25.0mm; Width at opposite end to collar: 15.5mm; Weight: 36.9mm.

2/19. Broad Flat sectioned ring. Width: 16.1mm; Length at right angle to opening: 11.7mm; Weight: 3.6g.

3/20. Fragment of sword: Hilt with facetted blade section, broken in middle of grip and upon upper part of blade. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Measurements: Length: 99.4mm; Width at shoulders: 43.5mm; Width of grip at break: 21.0mm.

4/21. Fragment of sword: Hilt, broken across shoulders and immediately below ricasso notch. Measurements: Length: 38.4mm; Width at shoulders: 45.4mm. Weight: 45.4g.

5/22. Fragment of sword: Middle blade fragment, with lenticular blade section. Swords with this blade section are generally of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66). Measurements: Length: 55.7mm; Width at middle of fragment: 28.4m; Weight: 49.3g.

6/23. Fragment of sword: Middle blade fragment, with lenticular blade section. Swords with this blade section are generally of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66). Measurements: Length: 63.0mm; Width: 28.8mm; Weight: 60.8g.

7/24. Fragment of sword: Middle blade fragment with facetted section. Swords with this blade section are generally found in northeast Britain and are of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66-67). Measurements: Length: 92.9mm; Width at middle of fragment: 31.3mm; Weight: 104.2g.

8/25. Fragment of sword: Lower blade fragment, including point, with lenticular blade section. Swords with this blade section are generally of Type Ewart Park (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988: 66). Measurements: Length: 76.2mm; Width at middle of fragment: 28.0mm; Weight: 69.7g.

9/26. Fragment of sword: shoulder fragment of hilt. Measurements: Length: 24.1mm; Width at shoulders: 26.9mm; Weight: 14.0g.

10/27. Fragment of copper alloy vessel: rim and body fragment of a thick walled metal vessel. Different from larger sheet-bronze cauldrons and buckets (Gerloff 2010), small bronze vessels are not uncommon in scrap hoards in northern Britain, such as that from Glentanar, Aberdeenshire (e.g. Schmidt and Burgess 1981: pl. 143.C). Measurements: Width along line of rim: 74.2mm; Length at right angle to rim: 52.1mm; Weight: 79.5mm.

11/28. Casting jet and runner. Measurements: Width at top of runner: 35.2mm; Length: 25.7mm; Weight: 28.5g.

12/29. Copper alloy lump: Measurements: Length at widest point: 50.5mm; Width at right angle to widest point: 50.1mm; Weight: 71.0g.

Discussion

Hoards of this composition are not uncommon in northeast England, and it most resembles a deposit from York Cemetery, Yorkshire (Schmidt and Burgess 1981: pl. 144.G), which is dated to the Late Bronze Age - Ewart Park metalwork phase (c. 1000-800 BC).

At present, only the sword fragments can provide some degree of chronological resolution within this Ewart Park phase. Unfortunately, the hilt fragments from this hoard are all typologically undiagnostic within the Ewart Park series (Colquhoun and Burgess 1988), which is a common problem with fragments from scrap hoards. The hilts most clearly resemble those from the unclassified series of northern Ewart Park swords (ibid.: nos. 318-574). Like those from Bridlington, a great number of these swords have hilts with only a single rivet hole in each shoulder and poorly defined ricassi below the shoulders, which is uncharacteristic of the Ewart park series as a whole (ibid.: 66). These traits plus the presence of well defined shoulder flanges suggest swords earlier rather than later in the series. Faceted blade sections have not been considered typologically or chronologically diagnostic within the Ewart Park series but that similar swords are known from the large hoard of weapons at Waterden, Norfolk (Northover and Bridgford 2002), which has produced a radiocarbon date for the very beginning of the Ewart Park phase again suggests that the hoard should be positioned earlier rather than later, c. 1000/950-875 BC (cf. Brandherm and Burgess 2008: 151).

Conclusion

The age, quantity and metal content of these objects qualify it as treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996 (2002 Amendment), as a base metal prehistoric hoard.

References

Brandherm, D & Burgess, C, 2008 Carp's-tongue problems. In F Verse, B Knoche, J Graefe, M Hohlbein, K Schierhold, C Siemann, M Uckelmann & G Woltermann (eds) Durch die Zeiten ... Festschrift für Albrecht Jockenhövel zum 65. Geburtstag. Internationale Archäologie, Studia Honoraria 28. Rahden: Marie Leidorf, 133-168.

Burgess, C. B. 1982. The Cartington knife and double edged knives of the later Bronze Age. Northern Archaeology 3: 32-45.

Colquhoun, I and Burgess, C. The swords of Britain. Munich: Beck, Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV/5.

Gerloff, S, 2010 Atlantic Cauldrons and Buckets of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Western Europe. Prähistorische Bronzefunde, II/18. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag

Northover, J. P and Bridgford, S. D. 2002. The characterisation of a Bronze Age weapon hoard. Materials Research Society Proceedings (2001) 712: 159-165.

Schmidt, P and Burgess, C. 1981. The Axes of Scotland and Northern England. Munich: Beck, Prähistorische Bronzefunde IX/7.

Steven Matthews (University of Groningen) 9.3.12
Ben Roberts (Curator of European Bronze Age, British Museum)