HAMMER

Late Bronze Age socketed tool, probably a hammer of c. 1200 - 700BC

The tool is near-complete with some peripheral damage and is very-heavily corroded and pitted (with a length of 61.6mm and a weight of 99.4g). The mouth is rectangular (29.2mm long and 19.4mm wide) and of variable thickness, with one side edge (6.7mm thick) being considerably thicker than the other side (5.0mm thick) or either face (4mm thick). The socket is also rectangular (8.1mm x 10.9mm and 40.5mm deep). There was a mouth moulding (7mm long), which appears to have been a simple collar but is poorly preserved. The sides are near-straight or gently concave, expanding slightly to the hammer platform (with a minimum width of 25mm and a blade platform width of 27.1mm). The sides appear to have been near-straight perhaps slightly convex across their width, producing a consistent sub-rectangular body section. The face were decorated with two ribs, converging to a single central rib in a Y-shaped device (29mm long). The hammer platform is rounded and is convex across both its length and thickness (with a thickness of 11mm). The surface is poorly preserved with remnant traces of mid-green patina surviving in protected areas in the socket and between the ribs. There are some areas of bright-green corrosion on the surface.

Bronze Age socketed hammers are not frequently reported, with 26 reported examples to PAS at the time of writing. The quadrangular form of this example is more typical of examples sometimes associated with Late Bronze Age, Ewart Park metalwork, although early hammers have been found associated with metalwork dating to the end of the Middle Bronze Age. The decorative Y motif is also unusual and difficult to parallel but may be seen as a variation of the trident motif, sometimes seen on palstave axes or converging ribs, seen on socketed axes. Hammers often have a higher tin content in the bronze (Coombs ibid.; Evans; 1881[1]) compared to contemporary axes, it has not been possible to metallurgically analyse this example at present but the weight would may suggest a high proportion of lead, rather than tin.

[1] Evans, J., 1881; The ancient bronze implements, weapons, and ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland