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Description: | A cast copper-alloy votive axe of Roman date. It has a blade that is triangular in section, tapering and curving downwards towards the blunt cutting edge. The butt end of the axe protrudes from the back of the handle where it is triangular in form and with a curved/convex outer edge. Protruding above and below the axe head is a flattened and integrally cast rectangular shaft that flares slightly below the head where it becomes cylindrical in form extending to a long handle with rounded tip. There is a circumferential groove around the base of the shaft. The head of the axe is decorated on one face with an incised cross saltire positioned so that it straddles the join of shaft and head as if representing leather binding. The entire object measures 36.86mm in length, 27.86mm in width at blade, 3.09mm in thickness at blade, 4.39mm in diameter at shaft, and weighs 7.87g.This is a miniature votive axe of Roman date. Other examples have been recorded through the PAS (see for example BH-EF7EF6, CAM-E26533, CAM-E235A7, NARC-EED971 or ESS-68D5E2) and suggest a date in the 1st-4th centuries AD for the current example.
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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