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Description: | A cast copper alloy amulet, dating from the Late Iron Age to Roman period. The amulet resembles the Bronze Age miniature axes that were later copies in the Roman period. But the style of the object and the patination on the surface would suggest a later Late Iron Age to Roman date.The object has a small, socketed mouth, with a single rounded mouth moulding. The socket diameter is 6.61mm and extends down inside the object, to where the blade becomes flat. Just below the mouth, on one side there is a relatively large loop, which is circular. The loop measures 9.50mm in length and is 3.54mm thick. The upper body is faceted, owing to the faceted faces and the shallow side body angles. On the sides the casting seam is just about visible. The body then widens out to form a pelta shape blade. The blade tips flare upwards and outwards and terminate with rounded knops. The blade tips are not symmetrical. The blade width measures 45.15mm tip to tip. The upper edges of the pelta shaped blade tip following the same faceting as the upper body. The cutting edge does not appear bevelled. The metal survives in an excellent condition and has a smooth mid brownish-green patina. Some similar miniature axes were found in Scotland and have been published in Schmidt & Burgess's 'The Axes of Scotland and Northern England.' These axes also have the rounded knops on the cutting edge. They are not a direct parallel for this object and the examples given are much longer, with narrower blade tip measurements. The example from Muirfield, East Lothian measures 62mm in length and the cutting edge measures 39mm. A second example from Stelloch, Wigtownshire measures 48mm in length and has a cutting edge of 31mm. The overall length of the Driffield amulet is 39.05mm and the cutting edge measures 45.15mm. Stylistically this object fits more comfortably into the Late Iron Age to Roman period. Sally Worrell (Finds Adviser - Prehistoric, Iron Age and Roman Artefacts) and the author Liz Andrews-Wilson (North & East Yorkshire FLO) have not seen an object like this before.
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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