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Description: | An incomplete Bronze Age copper alloy barbed-and-tanged arrowhead, dating circa 1275-1140 BC. Other than the tang, the original perimeter of the arrowhead is heavily abraded or entirely missing. The present perimeter does, however, indicate that the sides were gently curved towards the tip, rather than being straight. A v-shaped notch separates the wings from the tang. The tang is rectangular in section, and measures 4mm x 1mm. A shallow midrib is visible on one side only. The midrib extends from the tang, being of the same width, and gently tapers towards the tip. The surface of the arrowhead is mid-brown and pitted, with patches of dark brown patina.Length: 20mm, Width: 16mm, Thickness: 1.2mm, Weight: 1.79g.There is only one bronze arrowhead from a secure Bronze Age context in Britain and that was in the Penard hoard, first reported in Archaeologica 71, page 138. The Penard arrowhead also has a mid rib. At the time of its discovery it was a unique find in Britain and was presumed to be an import as there are numerous finds of bronze arrowheads recorded from Northern France.However, thanks to an increase in the number of reported metal detected finds, Bronze Age bronze arrowheads are now growing in number, though they remain a rare group of artefact. Dr Colin Pendleton reports that Suffolk has 17 known examples, of which 5 can be termed barbed and tanged. Norfolk has at least 4 recorded and more examples are being added to the database from around the country. This suggests that bronze arrowheads were also a British tradition.Though the barbed and tanged form was used in flint from the Early Bronze Age to the Middle Bronze Age, the evidence from Penard, which dates from 1275-1140 BC, suggests that copper alloy arrowheads did not come into fashion until later in the Middle Bronze Age. Therefore this is the suggested date range for this arrowhead.A similar arrowhead albeit with a mid rib rather than a mid ridge is WILT-6B6CD4. Also ESS-A41D75 is similar but only has a mid ridge on one side.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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