File:A Bronze Age hoard (FindID 490958).jpg

Description

1. Socketed axe, South-East class A. Small, incomplete; two joining fragments with a recent break. Double mouth moulding. Casting flashes intact. Blade edge corrosion chipped and missing in places. Expanded blade, blade tip hollows developed. Ridge down the centre of the internal face. L: 75.3mm; W. blade: 40.5mm; W. mouth: 35mm; Wt: 116.6g.

2. Blade, fragment. Rectangular in plan. No blade edges survive and the surfaces are heavily pitted. L: 34.25mm; W: 18.5mm; Th: 4.7-5.6mm; Wt: 15.7g.

3. Bracelet, fragment. Undecorated. The section is circular at one end, becoming D-shaped at the other end. L: 39mm; D: 5.4mm; W: 5.6-6.3mm; Wt: 7.2g.

4. Rod, fragment. Roughly circular in section at one end and narrower and slightly flattened at the other end. Surfaces lightly pitted. L: 59.15mm; W: 5-6.4mm; Wt: 11.3g.

5. Rod, fragment. Oblong in section. Wt: 11.5g; L: 17.55mm; Th: 9.95mm.

6. Ingot fragment. Plano-convex. Th: 29.6mm; Wt: 545g.

7. Ingot, edge fragment. Plano-convex. Th: 25.85mm; Wt: 217.9g.

8. Ingot fragment. Plano-convex. Th: 23.15mm; Wt: 182g.

9. Ingot fragment. Probably plano-convex, flat lower surface, uneven upper surface. Th: 14.1mm; Wt: 104.5g.

10. Ingot fragment. Plano-convex. Th: 8.9mm; Wt: 12.7g.

11. Ingot fragment, small. Th: 9.5mm; Wt: 7.2g.

12. Ingot fragment, edge. Th: 13.7mm; Wt: 72.2g.

13. Ingot fragment, edge. Plano-convex, c. 50% present. Th: 37.4mm; Wt: 1134.9g.

14. Ingot, fragment. Roughly triangular in plan, with a slightly rounded apex and the lower edge missing. All surfaces are relatively even and have an unusual dark red/purple patina. At the break, the internal structure is dense with no cavities as is frequently the case with ingots. L: 68.3mm; W: 14.65-50.2mm; Th: 25.85mm; Wt: 12.72g.

15. Ingot, fragment. Th: 15.68mm; Wt: 26.9g.

16.Probable ingot, fragment. Rounded. Th: 17.5mm; Wt: 19.6g.

17. Ingot, fragment. Th: 11.93mm; Wt: 32.1g.

18. Melted lump. Dims.: 23.75 x 19.95mm; Wt: 12.1g.

19. Melted lump, fragment. Th: 11.45mm; Wt: 18.9g.

20. Melted lump, fragment. Flat, thin. Th: 5.35; Wt: 7.4g.

21. Metal working waste, seven fragments of amorphous metal. Total Wt: 29g.

Discussion

This group of artefacts is made up of 28 late Bronze Age bronze objects which have presumably been dispersed through the action of the plough. All but three items (nos. 1-3) are raw metal, either ingot fragments or waste, which is not especially diagnostic. Quantities of raw metal are a well known feature of this particular period in south-eastern England, with more scattered examples elsewhere. No. 14 is a slightly unusual ingot fragment, both in form and general appearance. Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the surface of this object revealed a composition of pure copper and it is therefore compatible with other late Bronze Age ingot forms. Only the socketed axe (no. 1) can be closely dated to the late Bronze Age. It shows signs of having been deliberately broken for inclusion with the other objects as scrap metal. Bracelet fragments such as no.3 are known from other recently discovered late Bronze Age hoards in Kent, although their presence in hoards is not a particularly common phenomenon. The broken tools, ingots of raw material and metalworking debris may be interpreted as scrap and suggest that this is a founder's hoard.

Conclusion

This group of artefacts, which date from the Ewart Park phase of the Late Bronze Age and suggest a deposition towards the end of the period, around 1000-800 BC, are eligible as Treasure under the new Treasure Order (2002) being a base-metal prehistoric find containing two or more metal objects and well over 300 years old. The hoarding of metalwork at this period was not an uncommon phenomenon, particularly in the south-east of Britain. Late Bronze Age metalwork hoards are comparatively common in Kent and more scattered examples also occur elsewhere.