File:Bronze Age Hoard (Single Axe) (FindID 524285).jpg

English: Treasure number: 2012 T710

Findspot information:

The hoard consists of a group of three Bronze Age socketed axes (of varied completeness), an arrowhead & a single fragment of a mould for casting socketed axes all probably deposited as a single hoard group and later dispersed by ploughing. The hoard which consists of five distinct items is comprised of six separate pieces with one of the axes being in two parts. The items were recovered via metal detecting on ploughed and rolled land and were spread over an area of 3-4m, c.10-12 inches below the surface. Despite the incomplete nature of the present items, especially the mould, searching did not reveal any further items; it is, however, notable that the items have suffered considerable corrosion in the ground and therefore the conditions may not have favoured good preservation.

Description:

1. Socketed Axehead

A near complete cast copper-alloy (bronze) ribbed socketed axe (axehead) with side loop.Type Yorkshire. The axe is sub-rectangular in plan, triangular in profile and a tapering sub-square in section.

The mouth of the axe is a round cornered sub-square in cross-section. The mouth appears miscast, with the side adjacent to the side loop being sunk down towards the top of the loop affecting the line of the adjacent two corners and the edge where the loop is located. The lip of the mouth has post-depositional damage but where the original edge does survive it is clearly uneven being enlarged and flared at the edge opposite the loop and thinner along the remaining three edges.

The opening of the mouth measures 27.1mm (side-to-side) and 28.1mm (face-to-face).

The integrally cast side loop is semi-circular in profile and oval in section. The loop measures 27.3mm long, 10.2mm wide and 6.5mm thick at its mid-section. There is a prominent casting seam running down the length of the loop and this casting seam runs down the full length of the axe. The seam is prominent with a raised crease in this seam towards the axe tip. The corresponding casting seam on the opposite side is also prominent and although there is a crease towards the tip this is less notable. There is a hole (10.1mm by 6.2mm), apparently a casting flaw based on the patina along its edges, located behind and to the side of the casting loop through the main body of the axe.

The two faces of the axe each have integrally cast horizontal moulding consisting of three parallel longitudinal ribs. These ribs start 12.7mm below the mouth of the axe, taper towards their tips at either end, are uneven in form along their lengths. The length of these ribs varies (29.5mm to 41.7mm) but essentially extend along half of the length of each face.

The axe flares out to the sides towards the cutting edge to form a crescentic cutting edge. The tip of the blade is badly damaged through post-depositional damage. The socket extends to a depth 84.5mm.

The original polished surface patina which covers most of the axe is smooth and purple brown in colour although there are notable patches of pitting and corrosion.

Basic Dimensions: 105mm long, 46.6mm side-to-side across the cutting edge, 35.9mm across the mouth measure (face-to-face) x 41mm (side-to-side). The axe weighs 195.2 grams.

2. Socketed Axehead

An incomplete cast copper alloy (bronze) ribbed socketed axe (axehead) - very similar to that described above (1). Type Yorkshire. Only the mouth and upper socket, including side-loop survive and the axe is badly corroded. The mouth of the axe is sub-square in cross-section and unlike the above example is not miscast. The mouth of the axe has an enlarged flared lip, which has notable corrosion and below this lip the collar is waisted, approximately 5mm below this there is a second raised horizontal ridge running around the axe which is absent in the above example. This is referred to as double-mouth moulding.

The opening of the mouth measures 27.1mm (side-to-side) and 28.1mm (face-to-face).

The integrally cast side loop, which is semi-circular in profile and oval in section, is notably smaller in this example & measures 23.5mm long, 10.2mm wide and 4.3mm thick at its mid-section. There is a notable casting seam running down the length of the loop and this casting seam runs down the full length of the axe. The prominence of this seam is difficult to gauge due to corrosion. The corresponding casting seam on the opposite side is also heavily corroded.

The two faces of the axe each have integrally cast horizontal moulding consisting of three parallel longitudinal ribs. These ribs start 15.3mm below the mouth of the axe and unlike the above example the uppermost end of each rib abuts the second horizontal ridge. Corrosion prevents full observation of these ribs but they appear less prominent and not as long as those observed on the axe described above. Below these ribs the axe is broken.

The original polished surface patina of the axe is smooth and purple brown in colour although this example has considerable patches of pitting, corrosion and bronze disease. The socket extends to a depth 84.5mm. The thickness of the wall adjacent to the mouth but excluding the collar varies from 2.6mm to 3.6mm.

Basic Dimensions: 66.3mm long (broken), dimensions across the mouth measure 38.9mm (face-to-face) x 38.1mm (side-to-side). The axe weighs 144.4 grams.

Socketed Axehead

An incomplete cast copper alloy (bronze) socketed axe (axehead) in two parts. Type South-eastern. Although the two parts do not join, there is little doubt based on proximity, patina and size that they form part of the same axe. The mouth, with side-loop and part of the main axe body survive in one piece, whilst the base of the socket, including cutting edge survive as a second part. This axe is different in style to axes 1 and 2 described above in that it does not have the longitudinal ribs and is smaller in overall size.

The axe is sub-rectangular in plan and triangular in profile. The mouth of the axe is in the form of a round-cornered square which is bordered by a pronounced rounded lip which forms a prominent ridge around the top of the axe. This ridge appears unevenly cast in places but has suffered notable proliferation of Bronze disease which has affected the profile of the upper edge. A second less pronounced ridge, running around the axe, is located approximately 4.5mm below the first; this arrangement is referred to as double mouth moulding.

The opening of the mouth measures 23mm (side-to-side) and 22.9mm (face-to-face).

The integrally cast side loop, which is semi-circular in profile and sub-oval in section measures 21mm long, 10.3mm wide and 4.1mm thick at its mid-section. The casting seam running down the length of the loop is visible but has clearly been smoothed following casting. The remainder of the casting seam, running the length of the axe and the corresponding casting seam on the opposite side, also appear to have been worked smooth with just a slight prominent ridge remaining.

The two faces of the axe are plain and undecorated and there is notable pitting and corrosion on one face. The lower part of the main body of the axe is missing through damage.

The surviving tip of the axe flares out to the sides towards the cutting edge to form a crescentic cutting edge and is sub-triangular in section. The curved tip of the blade is damaged through post-depositional damage. The base of the axe socket is visible due to the break and is a round-corned rectangle in plan (22.5mm by 10.1mm) and slightly dished (face-to-face and side-to-side) in section.

The original polished surface patina of the axe is smooth and mid-brown in colour although this axe does have considerable patches of pitting, corrosion and bronze disease.

Basic Dimensions:

Mouth section: 56.5mm long (broken), dimensions across the mouth measure 36.6mm (face-to-face at point of collar) x 37.1mm (side-to-side at point of collar). The fragment weighs 107.6 grams.

Tip section: 28.9mm long (broken), 42.7mm wide across the cutting tip (edge-to-edge). The fragment weighs 43.2g

4. Spear Tip

The tip from a cast copper-alloy (Bronze) spearhead. The fragment is sub-triangular in plan and has the usual cross-section with solid oval mid-rib and protruding triangular wings with rounded corners, to either side. Almost all of the socket has been lost through damage and the item is in poor condition overall with notable pitting and corrosion on all sides. Where traces of the original patina survive this is a smooth mid greenish-brown.

Basic Dimensions:

43.8mm long (incomplete), 27.3mm wide (incomplete), 12mm thick. The fragment weighs 17.5 grams.

5. Axe Mould Fragment

Fragment of probable socketed axe mould. The item is sub-rectangular in plan and L-shaped in section. The inner face of the mould possibly represents the cutting tip part of the axe mould and has remnants of miscast metal in situ. There is a step ridge running around the outer edge of this face where the two halves of the bi-valve mould would have slotted together. The mould is made of copper-alloy but is of notably different appearance to the above items being black-grey in colour. The exterior of the mould fragment has a slightly raised geometric design consisting of a rounded rectangle and oval within a rectangular outline. Due to the incomplete nature of this item it is difficult to assess what style of axe would have been produced by this mould.

Basic Dimensions:

37.4mm long (incomplete), 46.2mm wide (incomplete), 6.5mm thick. The fragment weighs 59.5 grams.

Discussion and Dating:

All three socketed axeheads are consistent with Late Bronze Age. The two ribbed examples belong to Schmidt & Burgess's (1981, 223-39) Type Yorkshire group which as their name suggests are consistently found in Northern Britain, specifically Yorkshire and the East Midlands. The third axe belongs to Schmidt & Burgess's (1981, 223-39) Type South-eastern group (ibid., 212-17). South-eastern axes are primarily distributed in Yorkshire and the south-east of England. Both axes types are associated with the Ewart Park metalworking tradition which is dated c.1000 - 800 BC which corresponds to Needham's (1996) Period 6-7 (Metalworking phase XII). The spearhead, although potentially of slightly earlier date is also consistent with this time period. Spearheads are directly associated with socketed axes in several hoard deposits of Late Bronze Age date (cf. ibid. pl. 139-141, 143-4, 146-8 & 151). The fragmentary nature of the mould fragment makes it difficult to date this item with any precision but the close association suggests a similar date range. Moulds are a relatively rare but known feature of Late Bronze Age hoards. Turner (2010, 85-6) suggests that copper alloy moulds may have been used to cast lead 'formers' around which clay moulds were created in order to subsequently cast bronze objects.

Both the close spatial proximity and the typo-chronology of these items suggest that they were deposited together as a single group. The patina and the extent and manner of the corrosion support this assertion.

Conclusion

This group of artefacts date to the Ewart Park Phase of the Late Bronze Age c.1000-800 BC. The evidence provided above indicates that the hoard was originally deposited together as a closed group which has subsequently been disturbed by modern activity. Therefore, this assemblage is eligible as Treasure under the 2002 Treasure (Designation) Order of the Treasure Act 1996 (DCMS: 2002) due to it being a base metal prehistoric find containing two or more metal objects from a closed context.

References:

Needham 1996 'Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age' in

Acta. Archaeologica 67, pp121-140.

Schmidt, P., and Burgess, C. 1981 The Axes of Scotland and Northern England, Munchen: C. H. Beck'sche, Verlagsbuchandlung

Turner, L. 2010, A Re-Interpretation of the Late Bronze Age Metalwork Hoards of Essex and Kent, Oxford: BAR (British Series), 507 (2 Vol.)

Report Author:

Charlotte Burrill: Finds Liaison Officer - Portable Antiquities Scheme