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Description: | Fragment of cast copper alloy (bronze) ribbed palstave of Middle Bronze Age date (1500-1150 BC). The fragment measures 83.5mm long and weighs 139.69 grams. The fragment consists of the butt and stop ridge; it is broken below the stop ridge and the blade is lost. The break is old and patinated suggesting damage in antiquity. In plan the fragment is sub rectangular in plan and sub-triangular in profile; the widest and thickest part of the axe is behind the stop ridge. The septum (the area between the flange facets and the stop ridge) is 61.1mm long and 14.0mm wide. The butt of the axe has been damaged and is now rounded. The width at the butt is 19.8mm. The flange facets are fused to the stop ridge forming two raised elements to haft the axe by. The facets on each side of the axe differ from one another. However both side flanges start to rise at the mid point between the butt and stop ridge. The side flanges extends to a maximum height of 7.6mm. The stop ridge is very high in this example standing 9.6mm above the septum; there are also areas within the stop ridge which show small air bubbles from casting and there are also two slight depressions that extend below the stop ridge; both are heavily patinated suggesting that these maybe casting flaws or a bi-product of the casting process. The long edges of the axe have been finished and the remnants of the casting seam have been removed by trimming, filing and hammering. The remnants of a broken and eroded loop are present on one edge positioned beneath the stop ridge. The blade that extends below the stop ridge is very narrow, and thick, a central ridge / rib is present on both faces of the upper blade; this is the only decoration present.The palstave is a mid green colour with a thick well formed patina which has been eroded from most external areas; this has left a mid greenish brown coloured metal beneath. Similar examples to this palstave can be seen in: Savory, 1980; Catalogue of the Bronze Age collections in the National Museum of Wales; Fig 22-23. This form and style of palstave fits into the local Acton Park metal working tradition which is dated to the first phase of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA I) 1450-1250 BC. The small size of the blade in this example is unusual. It may be that this example maybe better described as a chisel or specific wood-working type of axe with unusually high stop ridge but narrow blade. The length of the butt is comparable with palstaves of the period although the width is a little smaller.The palstave fragment measures 83.5mm length, is 23.6mm maximum width, 27.8mm maximum thick and weighs 139.69
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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PALSTAVE
An incomplete cast copper alloy…
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