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Unique ID: LANCUM-C2B467
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
Cast copper alloy unlooped palstave axe probably dating to the Middle Bronze Age palstave 1500 to 1150BC. The axe shares similarities with the Taunton metalwork assemblage and Hotham related to the palstaves of the Acton Park metalwork assemblage to which it bears some resemblance similar to Needham et al fig 140 (1985) and Read (1995: p.3 fig 9 ) Dated to 1200 BC. The axe is almost complete and is relatively long with a length of 150mm. The butt is slightly concave and has a width of 30mm. The flanges are flat, longiform in plan, straight and parallel as far as the stop but do not extend all the way to the butt, with a width at the stop of 30mm. The blade is flaring 72mm wide with a slightly bevelled facet possibly as a result of hammering. The septum is very small and hard to discern and the edge of the butt maybe slightly broken. The axe has a green patina with green colouration in patches and there are various nicks along the length The axe is 30mm wide and there are no traces of casting flashes on the flange facets which must have been filed away. The axe share similarities with, NMGW-D73AD4 and NMGW-FAACD2.
The palstave shares typological features with Group I and Group II palstaves, the primary forms introduced to Britain in the Middle Bronze Age (Schmidt and Burgess 1981). As there are no side loops or midrib, this palstave may be relatively early, probably a Group II type from the Acton Park phase of Bronze Age metalwork, c1450-1300BC.
Schmidt and Burgess tell us that the term 'palstave' is misleading, as it comes from the Icelandic 'Paalstab' meaning a digging tool, not a type of axe. The term is used in British archaeology to describe an axe where there is a stop and the flanges disappear into the stop. Palstaves are also thicker below the stop. They are usually decorated on the blade and, as time went on, developed loops. Group I palstaves have a shield-like decoration below the stop ridge and variable flanges.
The concentration of palstaves in the North West of England is explained by the proximity to the Acton Park province, the major production area in north Wales and the Marches
British Bronze Age metalwork. A1-6., Early Bronze Age hoards / by Stuart P. Needham, Andrew J. Lawson and H. Stephen Green. London : Published and distributed for the Trustees of the BritishMuseum by British Museum Publications, 1985. ISBN - 0714113808 (unbound)
Read, B. 1995. History Beneath Our Feet. Anglia Publishing, Ipswich
Schmidt, P. K. and Burgess, C. B., 1981. The axes of Scotland and Northern England Munchen : C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung 119
Class: unlooped
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: BRONZE AGE
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Exactly 1500 BC
Date to: Exactly 1150 BC
Quantity: 1
Length: 146 mm
Width: 28 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 15th October 2017 - Sunday 15th October 2017
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Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
4 Figure: NY0106
Four figure Latitude: 54.43973237
Four figure longitude: -3.52796182
1:25K map: NY0106
1:10K map: NY00NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
No references cited so far.