SWORD

Treasure Report for HM Coroner

2016 T241 - Iron Age sword and scabbard, from West Cumbria

Date: First century BC to first century AD

Date of Discovery: 25th March 2016

Circumstances of Discovery: Metal detecting

To be known as: West Cumbria

PAS record no.: LANCUM-D10482

Description

1.) Sword:

HILT

The hilt of the sword is detached from the blade, and consists of three separate copper alloy fittings. Originally, these would have been arranged vertically, slotted onto the iron tang of the sword. The tang has corroded away, leaving the pieces separate. The broken cross-section of the iron tang, and possible organic packing material, is visible at the ends of the tubular fittings.

A. Pommel

This copper alloy fitting would have capped the hilt of the sword. It is approximately triangular in plan: the apex of the triangle would have been the top end of the hilt. The front and back of the triangle are identical: in the centre is a raised circular moulding, and under this circle, a bulbous curved form delineates the convex base of the triangle. From the side, the edge of the triangular 'plate' is distinguishable as a raised line down the centre of the bulbous curve. The triangle continues up towards a circular terminal (in a perpendicular plane) which caps the apex. A moulded ring runs around the base of this circular terminal, and this is echoed in five concentric ribs between the terminal and the circular moulding at the centre of the triangular plate.At the very top of the pommel is a central circular perforation which runs all the way through the piece, to take the tang of the sword. The top may have originally been capped by a stud or rivet but, if so, this component does not survive. The cylindrical perforation is wide at the top, narrowing towards the base. The base of the triangular fitting takes the form of a circular stop (in a perpendicular plane to the triangle, as at the apex). There is beaded moulding along the edge: the moulded 'beads' alternate wide and narrow, with 14 'beads' of each size. The base of this circular stop is concave as it moves towards the central circular perforation. Inside this preformation, the rectangular cross-section of the broken tang can be seen in profile.

Dimensions: Length from top to bottom: 40.6mm; Width at base of triangle: 24.9mm; Thickness of mouldings on triangle: 15.6mm; Diameter of apex terminal: 14.2mm; Diameter of central hole at apex: 5.2mm; Diameter of circular stop at base: 19.5mm; Width of iron tang seen in cross-section at base: 8.2mm

B. Upper grip

A tubular copper alloy fitting, the upper part of the sword grip. Although the cylindrical perforation is approximately the same diameter at the top and bottom, the fitting itself narrows slightly in the centre and flares out significantly at the base. The cross-section of the iron tang is visible at each end, although too heavily corroded for detail or its precise form to be observed. At the top, a slight indentation around the circumference, and crumbling of the patinated surface suggest that this area was probably original overlapped by the lower stop on the pommel. Two concentric rings are moulded in towards the flaring base. The base itself takes the form of a ring of beaded moulding. The moulded 'beads' alternate wide and narrow. In the current state of preservation, it is not possible for the total number of 'beads' to be determined, but the beaded moulding clearly mirrors the ring around the base of the pommel.

Dimensions: External diameter at top: 15.7mm; External diameter at centre: 14.3mm; External diameter at base: 24.8mm; Internal diameter: 12.5mm (approx.)

C. Lower grip, and guard

The top part of this copper alloy fitting is the lower end of the grip: a cylindrical tube, flaring at the top. At this top end, protruding remains of the iron tang are visible. The tang is rectangular in cross-section, and seems to have been packed in on either side of the circular tube with organic material (perhaps wood, bone or horn). The tube narrows in the centre, and widens out again at the bottom, with a ring of beaded moulding mirroring that below the pommel and in the centre of the grip. The moulded 'beads' alternate wide and narrow. In the current state of preservation, it is not possible for the total number of 'beads' to be determined, but they appear well worn. Below this final ring of moulding on the grip is the guard, which is sub-rectangular in plan. At each of the top two 'corners' is a bulbous leaf-shaped moulding, mirrored front and back. These echo, and curve away from, the bulbous curve at the bottom of the pommel. Beneath this moulded guard, and forming the bottom of the 'rectangle', is the flat hilt-end. There is a pair of parallel incised lines around the bottom of the hilt end, where the blade would have emerged.

Dimensions: External diameter at top: 19.8mm; Internal diameter at top: 13.5mm; Diameter at narrowest point: 13.6mm; Diameter at base of grip: 16.8mm; Thickness of bulbous mouldings at mouth: 19.9mm; Thickness of hilt-end: 13.5mm; Width of hilt-end: 40.6mm; Internal (i.e. blade) width at hilt-end: 30.0mm (approx.); Internal (i.e. blade) max. thickness at hilt-end: 6.0mm (approx.); Width of iron tang in cross-section at top: 10.4mm; Thickness of iron tang in cross-section at top: 7.2mm

Total length of the hilt is approx. 112mm, of which 79mm is the grip.

BLADE

The iron sword blade itself would originally have been attached to the tang and associated hilt fittings, and these should be considered a single object. All that survives of the blade is a middle section, now corroded into the scabbard. The remains of the iron blade are sandwiched between the damaged copper alloy front-plate and the more complete copper alloy back-plate of the scabbard. Because the blade is broken off at top at bottom at the same points as the copper alloy front plate, the blade itself is only visible in profile. It is lenticular in cross-section, thicker in the centre and tapering towards the edges.

Dimensions: Surviving length (approx.): 360mm; Surviving width (approx.): 25mm

2.)Scabbard

The scabbard has a copper alloy front-plate, only partially preserved, and a well-preserved copper alloy back-plate. These would originally have been bound together along both sides by copper alloy binding strips; little of this binding survives.

A. Scabbard

The flat-mouthed back-plate appears to be made from a single thin sheet of copper alloy. At the top, are the beginnings of the strap loop: a thicker sheet of copper alloy runs around the rim of the mouth, to which it is fixed with a single dome-headed copper alloy rivet. This thicker plate narrows to create an inverted triangle, which extends into a narrow rib running down the back plate. This rib would originally have extended all the way down the top half of the sword. Although a section of around 100mm in length is broken away and has not survived (between 28mm to around 128mm from the mouth), its path can be followed in the corrosion products. The rib expands in width again around 150mm below the mouth into a flat plate which is fixed to the back-plate with a pair of dome-headed copper alloy rivets, arranged horizontally, side by side. Around 182mm from the mouth, the plate arches over the back-plate to create a suspension loop in the centre of the scabbard. Originally this would probably have been semi-circular, but the loop itself does not survive. The irregular breaks at each end appear to be ancient. Below the strap loop, a lower loop plate mirrors the loop plate above. It is affixed with two adjacent dome-headed copper alloy rivets, and again narrows to form a thin median rib. Around 282mm from the mouth, this rib disappears where it meets the top of the chape bridge. Very little of the chape is preserved, only part of a wide bridge (on the back-plate side), which is broken at the bottom across a circular hole where it appears to have been riveted onto the back plate. Short lengths of copper alloy binding (part of the chape) run along both sides of the bridge, extending slightly above and below.

Less of the front-plate is preserved: only around two thirds of the length remains, raggedly broken away at the mouth and below the bridge of the chape. No original edges survive and none of the binding, except around the chape bridge. Indentations around the edges of both front and back-plates mark the original extent of the binding. Some of the breaks where the binding is missing appear recent.

Dimensions: Total length of back plate: 516mm (approx.); Width of loop plate: 24.0mm (approx.); Length of chape bridge surviving on back plate: 40mm (approx.); Width of chape bridge and binding: 40.5mm; Max width of back-plate: 30.3mm; Diameter of rivet heads: 6.0mm

B. Detached chape fitting

The fitting from the bottom of the chape (which would have protected the tip end of the scabbard), has broken away. It takes the form of a pair of protruding 'lips'. Each 'lip' is approximately oval in form, with a flat, oval external back and curved surface on the inside, facing toward the point of the sword and the opposite lip. Incised lines run around the edge of the curved inner surface, and a V-shaped pair of incised lines runs vertically up the centre on the curved inside of each lip, dividing the surface into to external lentoid shapes and a central triangle.

Dimensions: Surviving length, top to bottom: 26.0mm (approx.); Width at base: 32.3mm; Length of each 'lip': 29.2mm; Internal width of exposed ends of binding strip: 6.3mm

C. Accompanying fragments

A small bag of accompanying metal fragments and soil includes a short length of copper alloy binding from the edge of the scabbard. The strip is made from thin copper alloy sheet, curved into a U-shaped profile. The breaks around the edges appear recent, suggesting damage during recovery.

Dimensions: Length of copper alloy binding strip: 30.0mm (approx.)

Discussion:

This is a Late Iron Age sword and scabbard, which fit well into established general typologies for such material. The hilt, with its flat hilt-end, is a 'type ix' in Stead's terminology, which Stead describes as 'cast in one piece', presumably based on the complete example from Warton which is used as an illustration (Stead 2006, 13). This new find suggests that in fact this type of hilt is actually made up of several copper alloy components. The scabbard falls into Stead's Type Y: 'bronze or brass scabbard with straight mouths' (Stead 2006, 14). The suspension loop is Stead's Type 6: 'central loop with elongated loop plates extending almost the fill length of the scabbard' (Stead 2006, 14). The chape is Stead's Type h: bronze or brass chapes with birfurcating ends, bridged on the back, but with no clamps (Stead 2006, 15). As is most common for northern swords (Stead 2006, 13), the blade is lenticular in cross-section.

The sword and scabbard fall into Stead's Type F: Later northern swords with "Type vii, viii and ix swords, Type Y scabbards, Type [6] suspension loops, Type h and j chapes" (Stead 2006, 15). Northern swords are shorter than those from southern Britain, with blades 442-620mm long (Stead 2006, 13), so this example fits well within the normal size range, although probably towards the lower end of the average length. The grip is small, although not necessarily unusually so, suggesting that it would most comfortably have been handled by a person of smaller stature, perhaps an adolescent or a woman. The central strap loop and shorter length, as well as a small number of surviving chalk figurines, suggest that swords from the northern tradition were worn slug across the back.

Eight other Iron Age swords, scabbards or fragments are known from the nearby area.

Map showing the distribution of Iron Age swords in Britain. Adapted from Stead 2006, Fig. 1

These finds are summarised in the table below:

The types of findspots for these deposits suggest that the West Cumbria find was most likely a single deposit or possibly part of a weapons cache. None of the Iron Age swords from the area are known to have come from burials. The Warton sword was discovered 'under a heap of stones' in the nineteenth century, and it is possible that this was the remains of a burial cairn (Stead 2006, 68), but there is no direct evidence to support this.

The example from Warton (Stead 2006, no. 208; MacGregor 1976, no 158; BM 1857,0223.1), of which only the hilt and a small part of the scabbard and blade survive, is the closest parallel for this new find. Warton is also a Type F sword with Type Y scabbard, Type 6 suspension loop, and Type ix hilt (the chape type is unknown). This is a close match in both size and design to the West Cumbria sword, perhaps similar enough to suggest that the two are products of the same workshop. A very similar pommel (Stead 2006, no. 244; MacGregor 1976, no 141; Tullie House Museum) is also known from Brough (a stray find from the site of the Roman fort) and may be part of the same group.

Left: The Warton sword and scabbard

(image copyright Trustees of the British Museum)

Top right: The pommel from Brough (after MacGregor 1976)

Bottom right: Type h chape from Flusco (after Stead 2006 Fig. 103)

There is a similar Type h chape from Flusco (Stead 2006, no. 202, Tullie House Museum 1991.28), although the form of the bridge differs. The other nearby finds have slightly different, Type j chapes (short bifurcating bronze or brass chapes, attached to the bottom of the scabbard only, with no clamps or bridge). One of these, from Embleton in Cumbria (Stead 2006, no. 205; MacGregor 1976, no 145; BM 1870,1013.5), is the closest matching complete sword, and also the example geographically closest, to this new find. Together with Embleton and Warton, this find begins to demonstrate the existence of a particular north-west coast Iron Age sword type. It is likely that the reconstruction of the Embleton sword hilt (see below) should in fact be closer to the appearance of the finds from Warton and the West Cumbria sword. This type of hilt is not known from elsewhere in Britain.

Left: The Embleton sword and scabbard

(image copyright Trustees of the British Museum)

Right: Likely alternative hilt reconstruction for Embleton

(adapted from Stead 2006, Fig. 102)

Aside from the Brough pommel, the other slightly more distant inland finds are less similar to the West Cumbria sword. The swords from Cotterdale (Stead 2006, no. 204; MacGregor 1976, no 143; on loan to the British Museum from the Society of Antiquaries), and Asby Scar (Stead 2006, no. 203, BM 1994,0204.1), have crown-shaped (Type viii) hilt ends and larger and more elaborate hilts and pommels. The other two sword fittings from Brough (Stead 2006, no. 266; MacGregor 1976, no 161 and 165; BM 1857,1214.36 and 1874,0328.73) are also very different, and may be later in date: a copper alloy mouth-fitting and chape from organic scabbards.

The dating for Type F swords is difficult (see Stead 2006, 68-9 for a full discussion). An example from a burial at Rudston in East Yorkshire and a French find from Pouilly-sur-Saône suggest that Type F swords probably developed in the second to first centuries BC. The later associations of Type F swords from Stanwick and South Cave suggest that the type continued at least into the mid-first century AD. None of the closest matches for the West Cumbria find (from Warton, Brough, and Embleton) have secure contextual dating, but copper alloy components of the swords from Warton and Embleton were found to be brass, which suggests an earliest date towards the end of the first century BC.

Conclusion:

These objects qualify as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure (Designation) Order 2002, being a prehistoric base metal assemblage of two objects.

Potential Acquisition:

I understand that a local museum may be interested in acquiring this find. The Beacon in Whitehaven is the local museum, and has acquired objects through the Treasure process in the past. If they are unable to acquire, Tullie House Museum and Art gallery in Carlisle may be interested. The British Museum would strongly support this important find being acquired by a local museum where it could be conserved and displayed to the public.

Julia Farley,

Curator of British and European Iron Age Collections,

British Museum

20^th July 2016

References:

MacGregor, M., 1976. Early Celtic Art in North Britain. Leicester University Press: Leicester.

Stead, I. M., 2006. British Iron Age swords and scabbards. British Museum Press: London.