File:Bronze Age flat axehead (FindID 861731).jpg

English: A highly abraded Bronze Age copper alloy miniature flat axehead, probably dating to c. 2150-1900 BC. The axehead is broadly sub-rectangular in plan and rectangular in cross-section. The axe expands from a now rounded butt, 19.6mm wide, to the mid-point, 22.8mm wide. Below the mid-point, which is thickened in profile, 9.2mm thick compared to 4.6mm at the butt, there is break in angle, with the blade expanding to 28.2mm, where it terminates in a curved cutting edge. There is the suggestion of flanges running down either edge of the axehead, though they are difficult to discern by eye, and they are more prominent at the butt end - although the abrasion means that it is impossible to be sure if this was so originally.

Dimensions: length 63.3mm; width 28.2mm; thickness 9.2mm; weight 59.91g.

The axehead can be compared in terms of its general proportions to axes of the Brithdir metalworking phase published by Rohl and Needham (1998: fig. 24, esp. nos. 35 & 36), which share this example's relatively broad butt and lack of flaring blade tips. Although extremely small, a great variation in terms of size is a noted feature of axes of this period, with these smaller axes probably bing used for lighter woodworking (Moore & Rowlands 1972:13).