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Description: | Complete but damaged, cast copper alloy socketed Late Bronze Age axe. The axe is subrectangular in plan and triangular in profile. The mouth of the axe is now squashed, and the sides split, but it would probably once have been subcircular. It has a rounded moulded rim, directly below which is a subtle groove that follows the circumference, below which may be the hints of a vestigial lower moulding. The body of the axe is wasted and expands into a curved blade. The cutting edge is very blunt and much worn and it is clear that the blade tips are also damaged and worn down. The casting seams are visible to both sides and partially on the loop. The loop is semicircular with a semicircular perforation. The axe is very worn and abraded and the original surface is now missing. It now has a dark brown patina with flashes of orangey brown where heavier corrosion is setting in. The socket of the axe is full with corrosion product and compacted soil. There are two flashes of bright bronze on the cutting edge, possibly where it has been hit with a spade during recovery. The axe is 50.98mm long, 35.26mm wide at the squashed mouth, and weighs 65.59g. The cutting edge has a surviving width of 29.44mm, from tip to tip. The loop is 18.44mm long and approximately 7mm wide. The damage to the mouth is probably ancient and most likely to be the result of repeated hammering of the mouth, as this 'squashing' of the mouth is common in Bronze Age scrap hoards. A number of these 'small and chunky' axes were published by Cuddeford and Sealey in 2000 (See A Late Bronze Age hoard from High Easter in Essex Archaeology and History, Volume 31). Here Sealey discussed these axes as being quite distinct from the south-eastern axes detailed by Schmidt and Burgess, 1981 (The axes of Scotland and Northern England) and suggested that they be termed 'Easter axes'. These axes date to the Ewart Park phase of the Late Bronze Age, c.920-800 BC. Sealey comments (pers.comm) that more and more of this type of axe are being reported from central Essex.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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