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Description: | A fragment of the middle portion of a copper-alloy palstave dating to the Middle Bronze Age (circa 1500 – 1000 BC). Stuart Needham (Curator of Bronze Age Collections at the British Museum) has commented that below the stop, the blade is obviously flaring strongly, so this must be a broad-bladed example, therefore Middle Bronze Age rather than later. The identification of this artefact was hampered by the fact that the palstave is in an extremely poor condition, not only fragmentary, but also highly eroded. The surviving portion of palstave measures 64.6mm in length. The socketed end has a width of 23.4mm and a thickness of 26.2mm; the opposite end has a width of 31.5mm and a thickness of 13.08mm. The fragment weighs 148 grams. Only part of the blade survives, the wear or break on the end of the blade is extremely well worn. The tool has been broken in half through the socket, exposing the two holes of the socket. This break also looks well worn. It is unclear, because of the amount of wear and the extremely poor condition of the palstave whether the tool was deliberately smashed in half, whether it broke as a result of use or whether is broke much later (in antiquity). No cast lines survive on this artefacts and no further detail can be seen. It is difficult to see the true colour of the metal’s patina as the find has been coated in nail polish. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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AXE
An incomplete cast copper-alloy axe…
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