IRON AGE AXE

-100

Cast copper alloy miniature axe dating from the late Iron Age through to the Roman period. It is a socketed type axe with a wide blade and a thin square neck measuring 6mm across. The socket is sub-square in section with moulding around the opening and a loop at the top. It is solid all the way through. The moulding at the neck consists of two grooved lines running parallel to each other. The body and blade of the axe flare outward from the socket to a fan-shaped blade. The handle is slightly curved and the blade is not symmetrical. This could be to do with wear/damage rather than being mis-cast. The axe has a mainly smooth brown patina but there are some patches of green corrosion.These miniature axes are emulating Bronze Age axe types and it is thought they have some kind of votive association in the late Iron Age- Roman period.