Record ID: NMS-713616
Object type: FLAT AXEHEAD
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Very small axe or axe chisel, of Needham, S, P, (2017) class 2 if intended as a small axe, class 3 if an axe-chisel, as yet undetermined precisely. Of trapezoidal plan, a thin butt, tapering out with very straight sides to the cutting semi-circular edge, patinated green with approx. 30% original surface loss due to corrosion, no low flanges to the lateral edges; there is one edge that has not been affected by the loss of surface, this shows there was no edge expansion at all, a sub-rectangular cross section throughout. A subtle change of angles at the midpoint …
Created on: Monday 12th December 2022
Last updated: Friday 26th January 2024
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Near Wymondham', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NMS-AD1187
Object type: PALSTAVE
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Workflow stage: Published
Approximately half of a palstave axe, only the cutting edge and the constriction towards the stop-ridge was recovered, the break appears to be ancient, two bubbles in the casting at the break may have contributed to the axe failing at this point. All surfaces are corroded and pitted with only small amounts of the original surface extant, mostly to the hammered area to either side of the blade. Middle Bronze Age, 1,600 to 1,000 BC.
Created on: Monday 3rd October 2022
Last updated: Tuesday 4th October 2022
No spatial data available.

Record ID: NMS-F550EB
Object type: AWL
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Elongated awl, of sub-square section at the junction of the long point and the short tang, the section changes to circular, blending towards the tip, the tang becoming more rectangular. The point is fairly recently bent as is the tang, probably due to disturbance from agricultural machinery. All old surfaces are patinated a dark chocolate colour, the recent loss to the surfaces is now green. Middle Bronze Age, 1,600 to 1,000 BC.
Created on: Monday 12th September 2022
Last updated: Saturday 24th December 2022
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-F4446E
Object type: RAPIER
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Upper blade-hilt/butt part of a Middle Bronze Age rapier, of Burgess and Gerloff (1981) group IV, all old surfaces are thinly patinated chocolate brown, most probably from deposition (originally) in damp conditions, known as water patination. Most edges are relatively recently damaged and show as pale green, though both sides of the blade expansion for the handle survives as original straight edges, indicating that this rapier had the rivets fully enclosed in a trapezoidal sheet Cua rather than the edges cut or cast with open “slots” for the attachment of the rive…
Created on: Monday 12th September 2022
Last updated: Saturday 24th December 2022
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-BE8941
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Ovate Handaxe of Wymer J.J. (1999) type J, of differential patination on each face, one face is stained with mottled orange/brown from exposure to iron oxides in sands and gravels, the other is partially orange and brown though most of this surface is patinated white, probably from exposure to alkalis from chalk, this would possibly suggest that the off-shore deposition was a boundary between glacial sands and a chalk land surface. All flake scars appear to be soft hammer struck, the flakes overlap neatly at the centre of each face and there is no trace of the original surfaces …
Created on: Monday 23rd November 2020
Last updated: Tuesday 2nd February 2021
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-B67433
Object type: CLEAVER
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Cleaver in very fresh, unrolled condition, of Wymer. J.J. (1999) type H, of orange and dark brown patinated flint from exposure to the iron oxides within sand and gravels. An oblique thermal crack runs from a coarse inclusion on the ventral face to the edges and links up right across the dorsal face, this shows as a thin black line, though it looks alarming, the flint appears to be quite intact. Two other “blind” cracks are present but do not project through the flint. These flaws were present at the time of knapping, one flake in particular on the left lateral edge (when viewed o…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd September 2020
Last updated: Thursday 14th January 2021
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-A1A677
Object type: BLADE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Soft hammer struck long blade, from an opposed platform core with long, central flake scar to the dorsal face struck from the platform 180 degrees to the proximal end (the thinner end), this changes the section from triangular (proximal) to trapezoidal (distal). The flint is now patinated matt black from exposure to peat/clay deposits in the submerged forest bed, it appears that it has been moved by the tides recently, causing irregular damage to both thin lateral edges, exposing the brown/grey original colour of the flint. Late (final) Upper Palaeolithic to Early Mesolithic, 10,000 B…
Created on: Wednesday 17th June 2020
Last updated: Thursday 18th June 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-B456A1
Object type: HOARD
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Late Bronze Age hoard consisting of 40 copper-alloy items, with 12 fragments of pottery storage vessel. Catalogue: 1. FACETED SOCKETED AXE, complete, with one circular-sectioned loop. Sub-circular mouth with rectangular opening with radiused edges, an internal remnant of one side of the casting sprue partially obstructing the mouth. Faceted body expanding to a sharpened, rounded cutting edge. Single shallow internal vertical rib behind each face, starting immediately below the top of the socket, blending into the side walls approximately halfway down the socket (Ehrenb…
Created on: Thursday 31st October 2019
Last updated: Friday 31st March 2023
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-8DFC64
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Asymmetrical intermediate handaxe of Wymer's type D/L, lightly rolled and hard hammer struck from a thickly corticated nodule of sub-oval sectioned flint, lightly and patchily patinated dark grey flint with a few pale coarse inclusions. The nodule has been shaped to make a point (type v) and one long cutting edge with a circa. 45 degree dip from one side to the other halfway along when viewed from the side, the other side has the majority of the cortex extant passed the point, forming a "handle" of sorts, though the obtuse angles in the nodule to make an effective cutting edge would b…
Created on: Monday 23rd September 2019
Last updated: Wednesday 1st April 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-5AEA91
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Very large and well-formed "statement" Handaxe, of Wymer's (1999) Type F (pointed), originally of mottled light grey flint now patinated various shades of buff due to exposure of the surfaces to glacial sands and gravels, the coarser inclusions are tending to the darker range. It is complete, with only minor ancient damage to the tip (type iii, ogee point), a small chip to one lateral edge is recent and shows the original colour of the flint, and similarly the base of the butt has a small, unpatinated removal. All flake removals are soft hammer struck from well prepared platforms, …
Created on: Monday 21st January 2019
Last updated: Thursday 15th August 2019
No spatial data available.

Record ID: NMS-EAED71
Object type: RAZOR
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Late Bronze Age razor, of Piggott (1946) class 1, Leaf-shaped blade of very thin sub-lenticular section with a very slight mid-rib and chamfer for the cutting edges, a sub-rectangular sectioned shank or handle terminates in a flattened spatula. All surfaces appear to be hammered after casting (work hardening?) and smoothly finished, also cf. Watson, P.J. Catalogue of British and European Metalwork in Birmingham City Museums 1993 BAR British Series: 233, p. 10, no.76, although this example has a hooked tang.
Created on: Wednesday 28th November 2018
Last updated: Monday 20th July 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-399665
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Handaxe, of Wymer (1999) type E/F, bifacially knapped tear-drop or pointed form: - of slightly dark patinated mottled black to grey flint with large, lighter grey coarse inclusions. All flake removals are hard hammer struck, the blank for this piece was a large, semi-flat nodule of derived (likely to have been found eroded from the chalk) flint with thin, weathered cortex extant to both dorsal and ventral faces where the flakes failed to overlap, thus thinning of the blank was minimal, in fact the thickest part of the handaxe when viewed in profile is towards the point, making the cut…
Created on: Thursday 20th September 2018
Last updated: Tuesday 27th August 2019
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-558D58
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Handaxe of Wymer, J (1999) type G (sub-cordate), of very large size. The "blank" for this is an enormous tertiary flake, hard hammer struck from a substantial core of (originally) grey banded flint with light grey, coarse inclusions. It is now patinated orange and brown from post-depositional exposure to iron oxides from glacial gravels, with fine streaks of iron to both faces from scrapes from agricultural implements. The dorsal face is the flatter of the two, has large, semi-hard hammer struck, invasive flake removals around the edges, the central area is the unmodified face of the …
Created on: Monday 4th June 2018
Last updated: Wednesday 2nd March 2022
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-C264DD
Object type: FABRICATOR
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Secondary hard hammer struck blade-like flake with a patch of thick cortex extant to the distal end on the dorsal face, of unpatinated slightly mottled grey flint with steep retouch to all edges forming an elongated sub-ovoid plan and a plano-convex section. The distal end is worn and rounded from abrasion. Such tools are referred to as "fabricators" and their function was obscure. It is now known that it is likely that these were used to strike against a split nodule of Marcasite (a type of Iron Pyrite) to produce sparks to light fires. 83 x 29 x 12 mm. This example is likely to be o…
Created on: Tuesday 22nd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 3rd April 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-6A485E
Object type: AXE
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Very large and heavy ground and polished axe of mottled orange and off-white patination with many streaks of iron across both faces. The axe is complete apart from a post-depositional flake removal, some crushing of the cutting edge and a small chip to the butt; this damage reveals whitish grey flint below the patination. Both faces retain some flake scars around the edges, but most have been ground smooth along the median ridge, including a hollow on one face; the undamaged part of the cutting edge is still sharp. Both edges are heavily ground to a rounded profile. Donated to Norwich…
Created on: Sunday 18th June 2017
Last updated: Monday 1st June 2020
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-949F6D
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Lower Palaeolithic handaxe of asymmetrical plan form with one long main meandering cutting edge, and a stout tip with two parallel tranchet blows to sharpen it, and a shorter, and straighter cutting edge to the other lateral side, truncated by a concave patch of worn pale brown cortex. It is of orange patinated mottled flint due to deposition in iron oxide rich glacial gravels, with a few small recent chips to the cutting edges show that the original colour of the flint was of a pale grey with off-white coarse inclusions. There are numerous thermal (frost) fractures to the surfaces, m…
Created on: Thursday 8th June 2017
Last updated: Thursday 18th January 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-20F453
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Lower Palaeolithic pointed handaxe of type E (Wymer 1999), bifacially knapped by direct percussion with a semi-hard hammer stone from a small nodule of mottled grey flint with a patch of worn cortex extant towards the damaged butt; recently broken by thermal (frost) fractures. Both faces are differentially patinated with one face being white with a few grey/brown mottles, the other is closer to the original colour of the flint but with a few streaks of light grey "basket weave" patination. Type E handaxes are found throughout the Lower Palaeolithic period, are smaller than 10cm in …
Created on: Wednesday 1st February 2017
Last updated: Thursday 18th January 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-356A5D
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Lower Palaeolithic handaxe/cleaver of Wymer's (1968) type E/H in very fresh condition with no recent damage, bifacially and semi-invasively knapped by direct hard hammer percussion from a small thermal or "potlid" fractured piece of unpatinated black flint with several small patches of dark grey coarse inclusions. The dorsal face retains a large area of whitish cortex towards the (mostly unmodified) butt, and the slightly curving cutting edge is formed by flake removals directed to thin at an angle, thus producing a sharp cleaver-like tip. The ventral face is only partial…
Created on: Monday 11th July 2016
Last updated: Tuesday 7th February 2023
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-A39651
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Lower Palaeolithic pointed ovate handaxe of Wymer's type E, unifacially and invasively knapped from a thermal or "potlid" fractured piece of white patinated flint, the dorsal (worked) face is patinated with a white "basket weave" with the original brown flint colour showing in-between, there is a small patch of worn and orange stained cortex where the flakes did not overlap towards the middle of this face. This type of handaxe are quickly made from any available small piece of flint and the knapping is focused usually to produce one sharp cutting edge over any attempt at symmetry, tho…
Created on: Monday 4th July 2016
Last updated: Monday 5th August 2019
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-581714
Object type: POLISHED AXEHEAD
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Published
Neolithic part-polished thin butted axe, now patinated light grey with some mottling throughout the flint and spotty iron staining on some of the high points of the surface. The cutting edge is recently damaged and one edge near the centre has been chipped in antiquity. 147 x 51 x 19 mm.
Created on: Wednesday 25th November 2015
Last updated: Monday 30th April 2018
Spatial data recorded.