BRONZE AGE AXE

Unknown artist

I am very grateful to John Llywelyn Williams for the following description:The axe has a mottled green and brownish yellow corroded surface and is most likely made of bronze. Its most notable feature is its small size - with a length from butt to cutting edge of 73.4mm. The axe is well made with a thin rounded butt and the body expanding to form a slightly asymmetric cutting edge with rounded terminations. The sides are rounded and there may be traces of very subdued side flanges - the abraded surfaces making it most difficult to confirm their presence. There is no stop bevel but a slight depressed concavity across the face of the body in a position a third from the butt end is more likely to be a casting imperfection rather than a constructive feature.The small size of the axe and the uncertainty about the presence of side flanges makes it difficult to place within a classificatory scheme. Its shape has the features of a miniature Migdale type axe but in a preliminary survey of 24 complete axes of this type from Wales, the length of the group varies from 108mm in the smallest example (Swansea, Great Western Railway Station) to 180mm in the largest (Oxwich, Gower), with an average for the series of 142.2mm. An axe of comparable size is the example from Kelsterton, Connah's Quey, Flintshire, but this is classified as a Developed axe of type Aylesford, a group that could accomodate the present specimen if side flanges were to be confirmed. Migdale type axes belong to Early Bronze Age Period 2 (c 2200/2150 - 2050BC), and Aylesford type axes to Post Period 2 (c 2100 - 1050BC). The utilitarian use of such small, slender axes is an unknown but debatable issue. A function as a delicate wood working tool could be postulated, but equally compelling would be to claim it as a votive replica of a much larger example. Unfortunately the context is not known, viz the depth at which it was buried, its position and orientation, and whether it was deposited in a pit or in association with any other below ground feature. Diminutive battle axes in stone, and bronze socketed axes are known from later stages in the Mid and Late Bronze Age. No analytical study of its composition has been undertaken. Such a study using a non- destructive quantitative technique (XRF) or semi-quantitative (SEM) could be most informative. The surface is abraded and some surface detail may have been lost. It would also be advantageous if the object was to receive remedial conservation to stabilize further deterioration from active bronze disease.