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Description: | Copper-alloy socketed looped axehead of Irish Late Bronze Age Type. Due to the short, stocky body of axes of this type, they is referred to as 'bag-shaped' or 'purse-shaped'. The axe's exact measurements are: 57mm in length, the blade width is 43mm, the width of the socket is 31-37mm (inner-outer), the breadth of the socket is 22-27mm (inner-outer, back-front) and the axe weighs 78.97g. These measurements show that the mouth of the axe is aligned with the blade and not back-to-front shaped. The blade was re-worked after the casting process and it is still slightly splayed. However, the axe was in use and it was re-sharpened as well; there are indications of parallel re-sharpening marks close to the cutting edge. The axe was thinly cast and possibly the alloy used was probably more tinny than the normal alloy - the mouth has shows a crack which probably happened while it was in use. However, the damage was obviously no reason to discard the axe.
This socketed axe type is called 'Irish' because most of them were found in Ireland - however, a great number were also found in Scotland, Wales and N/W and S/W England. Due to deposition practices of the Late Bronze Age, these axes were found both singly (in rivers or wetlands) and in hoards. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Boughton, Dot - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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