BRONZE AGE SOCKETED AXEHEAD

-1000

A fragment of a cast copper-alloy socketed axe of Late Bronze Age date. Only the blade edge and part of the head survives intact, the remainder now missing due to old breaks. The blade edge narrows to a flat tip, still relatively sharp, and is curved in form with expanded sides that narrow into the main head of the axe. In cross section the axe head is rectangular in plan and is hollow, showing the beginnings (or end) of a socket. The fragment has a light grey-blue patina and appears to have been made in a tin rich alloy, giving it a slightly shiny silvery appearance. This is a fragment from the blade of a Late Bronze Age socketed axe, possibly from the Ewart Park phase of metalwork c. 1000 - 800 BC.It is unclear whether this and a second fragment from the same field (BERK-181F72) are more than broadly chronologically related - scrap metal 'metalworkers' hoards of Bronze Age date are not uncommon discoveries, having been collected so that the metal could be melted down and reused. The two pieces have very different patina and were found quite a distance apart, so it may be more likely that these finds represent general dispersed activity in the landscape.