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Description: | Description: A small late Bronze Age hoard consisting of a bronze spearhead, two joining short sword blade fragments and a possible chisel terminal fragment.
1: A pegged bronze spearhead, almost complete with the end of the tip missing and part of the socket mouth missing, the tip break appears ancient but the socket break seems more recent as there is a fresh scar along its edge. Next to this fresher break there is a worn rounded edge which may be due to an original casting flaw. Other damage along the blade edges, in the form of at least four dents causing burring on the blade faces looks ancient.
The spearhead has a rounded socketed midrib, with hollow ground edge channels with slight sharpening bevels on the edges. The whole spearhead is covered in coarse abrasive cleaning and sharpening grooves, some of the larger grooves may have actually been made in the mould. The peg holes are both markedly oval in shape. The spearhead is patinated dark brown with some patches of invasive corrosion, which is green in colour.
Dimensions: 163mm in length, 37mm in width across the blade and 24.5mm in external socket diameter, 22.5mm in internal socket diameter and 112.4g in weight.
2 and 3: Two joining short bronze fragments of a sword blade. The breaks appear to be ancient. When joined the fragments are curved at the join and hammer breakage marks are clearly visible on the concave face of one of the fragments. There is limited recent agricultural damage and a number of dents on the blade edge; some of which may be ancient, though perhaps caused by the breaking process rather than by use damage.
The blade has a standard convex cross-section with concave edge channels with small edge sharpening bevels. The fragments are patinated dark green/brown but have a large amount of adhering corrosion products coloured a medium green. The amount of corrosion varies on opposite faces and does not match on the two fragments when joined, supporting the belief that the breaks were made prior to deposition.
Dimensions:
2: 29mm in length, 28mm in width, 8mm in thickness and 28.4g in weight.
3: 25mm in length, 26mm in width, 8mm in thickest and 22.2g in weight.
4: A bronze terminal, which is spatulate, and possibly the blade end of a small, flat tanged chisel. The break is ancient and worn. The sides of this fragment are slightly concave with a rectangular cross-section the blade is convex. The fragment is patinated dark brown with large bulges of corrosive product on one face. Chisels of this form are known from at least the middle Bronze Age. However, as this is such a small terminal fragment it is possible that it is not a chisel but perhaps a different object, such as a Roman or Anglo-Saxon stylus terminal, and therefore not part of this Bronze Age group.
Dimensions: 19mm in length, 13mm in blade width, 3mm in thickness, at break, 3.3g in weight.
Discussion: Thought to be a probable Late Bronze Age hoard, especially as the sword fragments were deliberately bent and hammer broken in association with a contemporary spearhead and one other piece which may be contemporary.
Disposition: To be confirmed
The fact that these base metal Bronze Age objects were found together and that there are more than two of them fulfils the requirements of the Treasure Act. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Minter, Faye - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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