PALSTAVE

Middle to Late Bronze Age bronze palstave of Transitional Type and uncertain sub-type, possibly Type Shelf or Roundhay dated to the Penard-Wilburton Metalworking phases (c.1275-950 BC) (following Needham et al. 1997).

The palstave is incomplete missing peripheral areas and has a distorted butt (with a distorted length of 138.3mm and a weight of 323.2g). The butt is narrow and now rounded (with a width of 11mm and a thickness of 3.1mm). There is an oval aperture (5.7mm long and 3.2mm wide) probably the result of a casting flaw, since the flaw continues as a scar along the septum on one face. The butt has been distorted and is bent towards one face. The sides are straight and gradually divergent as far as the stops, where there is a gentle nick. The loop is incomplete, missing its central part (with a length of 29.2mm, internal length of 13.3mm, width of 10.1mm and a surviving height of 8.2mm giving the palstave a maximum surviving width of 35.1mm) and spans the position of the stops. The casting seams are discernible where the surface survives and appear to have been fettled. The sides of the blade are near-straight and divergent to the blade edge. The blade edge has been truncated and the blade tips lost (with a surviving width of 33.6mm). The blade now has a deep curve, although the original blade form is unclear. The septum is straight and flat, gradually thickening to the stops (with a thickness at the stops of 15.4mm). The flanges now rise from well before the butt but again, are likely to be truncated and eroded. The stops are curved with a perpendicular rise from the septum (of 6.7mm). The blade faces are prominently convex across their widths (with a maximum thickness of 20.8mm). There is a sharp bevel from the tops of the stops to the blade faces. The blade faces have no surviving evidence for a midrib or any other motif, accepting that the surface has been lost along the mid-section. The blade faces gradually narrow to the edge with no surviving evidence for a blade facet. The surface has a dark-brown patina, where it survives and elsewhere is pale to dark-green with patches of active corrosion.