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Description: | A heavily abraded cast bronze un-looped palstave with debased shield-shaped pattern with central rib below the stop ridge and raised flange facets. The palstave dates from the Middle Bronze Age (1500-1150 BC). It measures 111.42mm long, is 24.03mm wide by 25.1mm thick and weighs 208.5g. The blade of the palstave is sub-rectangular (probably originally sub-triangular) in plan with slightly convex expanding sides although both the flaring,of the blade, typical of palstaves, and the cutting edge have been lost. In profile the blade is sub-triangular with the widest section being before the stop ridge. The blade (measured from the blade edge to the stop ridge) is 58.7mm long and the width of the surviving blade edge is 25.1mm. The thickness of the surviving incomplete blade tip is 3.8mm. The maximum thickness of the blade is 19.1mm (measured at a point below the stop ridge; the width at this point is 24.4mm). Beneath the stop-ridge, on one side of the palstave, is a tapering central faceted rib. This rib extends approximately one-third of the way down the length of the blade. Despite corrosion on all surfaces it does not appear that this rib was ever present on the opposite face. Directly below the stop ridge on the face with the mid rib, are two concave depressions (one to either side of the central rib) - together these form a denbased shield-shaped pattern. The convex cutting edge of the blade ihs been lost through corrosion, abrasion and probably wear. The exposed edge shows an elliptical section profile. The loss of edges and surface detail may be due to considerable movement in the ploughsoil and corrosion. There has been considerable loss of the original patina, with the sole traces of this only evident in two patches along one of the sides, being a rich greenish-brown colour and having a smooth surface in contrast to the rest of the blade. The remainder of the surfaces are chipped, pitted, rough and have considerably greater green copper corrosion products in evidence. On one of the sides of the cutting blade there are 4-5 transverse grooves, these may indicate that the cutting edge has been reshaped and possibly shortened at some point in its life history, but due to corrosion and loss of the cutting edge it is not possible to be certain about this being the case. The rear part of the axe (from the stop ridge to the butt) is sub-rectangular in plan and sub-triangular in section (profile) with the widest part behind the stop ridge. The septum (the area between the flange facets and the stop ridge) is 54.3mm long, 16.1mm wide and 8.0mm thick. The butt of the axe has been damaged and is incomplete. Despite its incompleteness it has traces of a notch in the butt end The width at the butt is 20.7mm. 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, with one side having more round sided flanges creating a notably more shallow and concave septum than the other (on the side with the mid-rib) which has steeper sides and a flatter base. On the face without the mid-rib, behind and against the stop ridge, there is a small conical depression or hollow. This hollow has a diameter of 4.8mm and extends approximately halfway into the septum of the axe, angled under the septum towards the blade end of the palstave. This hollow appears to be a feature of the original casting and not a product of corrosion, it is a known feature on other axes of this period. The most likely cause of this hollow is an air bubble or gas pocket which formed in the mould. This would have caused such a mist cast; however it obviously did not affect the role or strength of the axe and so must be relatively superficial. The palstave is a light mid-green colour with very few areas of the rich mid greenish-brown thick well formed patina surviving aside from that noted above and slightly worn patches of the same patina within the septum hollows and along the stop ridge. It is likely that abrasion and corrosion has spread and affected 80% of the surface of the axe. However, this corrosion seems to be relatively stable at present and relatively few areas of light green active powdery corrosion can be observed. Similar examples to this palstave can be seen in: Savory, 1980; Catalogue of the Bronze Age collections in the National Museum of Wales; entry 153 from St Fagans, Glamorgan.This form and style of palstave fits into the Acton Park metal working tradition which is dated to the first phase of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA I) 1450-1250 BC. This metalworking tradition fits within Needham's period 5, 1500-1150 CAL BC (1996 p133-134).(with thanks to Peter Reavill, FLO (Herfordshire & Shropshire) for assistance with this report).
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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