PALSTAVE

A Late Bronze Age palstave axe, cast in bronze. The axe has a single loop. The axe is complete but is worn and corroded. Much of the original surface has been lost due to this corrosion and wear. The object was found as a single find. It is 144.16 mm in length. The palstave once would have had a wide blade, but the blade tips and much of the blade width have been worn away. There is no decoration on either surface. The blade starts parallel at the top and then expands progressively towards the convex cutting edge. The cutting edge and tips are all badly worn and corroded. The tips proper have almost certainly been removed due to this wear. The butt end of the axe is roughly rectangular in section with prominent flanges on either face. The butt end is otherwise undecorated. Casting lines can still be seen on both flange sides. There is heavy surface pitting and corrosion on both sides and faces. The metal is a mid brownish-green colour. In comparison to other axes found in West Sussex it survives in a good condition.

The characteristic features of this palstave are flanges which begin well after the butt, a stop ridge which is pronounced above the flanges, a short narrow undecorated blade, and a loop placed relatively low along the length of the object. These are all traits of "Late" palstaves as defined by Smith (1959) and since reiterated by Schmidt and Burgess (1981). These are thought to date to the late Penard to early Wilburton phase of the Bronze Age c.1150-950 cal BC (following Roberts et al. 2013)