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Description: | This is a small unlooped palstave of slender form without any form of decoration or ribbing on the upper blade surfaces. Well-defined ledge stops, characteristic of palstaves, are present at mid point along the length of the artefact. Pronounced and asymmetric cast flanges rise at the point of the stops and continue to the butt end. Near to the stop, two notches in the flange profile suggest differential wearing in antiquity, possibly caused by a haft binding. On one side of the axe, one flange is markedly higher than the other, making the palstave sit on an angle when placed upside down on a flat surface. The blade edge has been neatly removed in antiquity, by three blows. These have removed the central and lateral parts of the blade surface, giving a triple ?clipped? shape, and removing the blade at the point where it would have splayed outwards. The artefact has a brown patina and a slightly pitted surface. A number of scrapes and gouges on the blade end of the artefact were probably caused by relatively recent plough damage within the ploughsoil. Dimensions: surviving length 120.0mm, surviving blade width 36.5mm, maximum flange width 22.0mm, weight 200.2 grams.
This is an early unlooped palstave belonging to the Acton Park 1 phase (Period 4) belonging to the end of the Early Bronze Age. It may be dated, on current available evidence to between 1650-1500BC (Needham 1996). The palstave is a very early type, representing an intermediate stage between earlier haft-flanged axes and subsequent palstaves proper (the flanges typical of the former and the stops typical of the latter). Northover (unpublished manuscript) has grouped these as of ?intermediate type? with parallels known from Ludlow (Shropshire), Abertillery (Blaenau-Gwent) and Whitchurch (Cardiff). The latter two examples are in the National Collection (Savory 1980, Cat. Nos. 129 & 130, Fig.19), the closest being the example from Whitchurch. The breaking of the blade surface in antiquity, suggests a deliberate rendering of the tool useless, probably as a ?killing? ritual, immediately prior to its deposition. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | -1650
-1500 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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