File:Bronze Age palstave (FindID 475579).jpg

From the damaged butt, the width of the palstave gradually widens towards the cutting edge. The slightly damaged flanges are prominent, as is the crescentic stop ridge, the combination of the two elements creating a deeply recessed septum. At the centre of each of the two wider faces there is a vertical rib, extending downwards from the stop ridge and gradually petering out at its lower end. The sides of the blade flare outwards at the bottom, where there is a crescentic cutting edge of tapering thickness. A vertical casting flash, visible down the centre of the two narrower sides of the artefact, attests to the use of a two-piece mould. A number of hammer marks are also visible on these sides. The artefact has a dark brownish-green patina and is slightly corroded in places. It measures 149mm long, up to 67.2mm wide (blade), a maximum of 29.2mm high (at the stop ridge) and weighs 441.3g.

Peter Reavill (pers. comm.) has identified this as an unlooped palstave, dating from the Acton Park metalworking tradition of the earlier Middle Bronze Age (MBA I/Needham Period 5, stage VIII-IX, c. 1450-c. 1250 BC). Reavill identifies the following features of note: fused stop ridge and exceptionally high flanges; a 'U-shaped' dip at the butt; a small depression at the base of the septum, undermining the adjacent stop ridge; prominent central rib on both faces with hollowing either side of rib. Parallels can be found within Schmidt and Burgess's 'Group II Early Mid-ribbed Palstaves of Type Liswerry (790-794)', which have an out-turned wide blade with deeply crescentic cutting edge and central mid-rib of varying length (Schmidt and Burgess 1981: 125-128). Reavill also notes the good condition of this piece, suggesting that the unusual patina may indicate that is was deposited in a wet context.