File:Diminutive Bronze Age flanged axe, opposite profile view (FindID 99546).jpg

English: Complete cast copper alloy miniature axe. This axe is very small being 34.68mm long, 16.72mm wide at the blade edge, 6.42mm wide at the butt end, 5.66mm at the thickest point and weighs 8.17g. It is sub-triangular in plan, with a long thin body that expands into a flared blade. The blade is irregular, being slightly longer at one edge and the cutting edge is blunt. The axe has a lentoid profile, which is due to a shallow flange that runs along each side. The flanges are 2mm wide and barely 1mm high to either face of the axe. The butt is also irregular and has a diagonal edge when viewed in plan. The original surface of the object survives in good condition with an even dark green patina. Where there are tiny patches of exposed surfaces, these are fractionally lighter green.

Diminutive axes are often associated with Roman votive offerings. However, the axe recorded here is clearly of a Bronze Age form. Needham, 1983, in his unpublished thesis 'The Early Bronze Age Axeheads of Central and Southern England', figure 92, illustrates a similar and even smaller axe from Harlow, Essex. This example is incomplete and it has been suggested that it may be a chisel tip. However, this is inconclusive and at least offers the possibility of an Essex parallel. The identifiable flanged form of the axe head recorded here would suggest that it is not a chisel tip. Whether it was made to serve a practical function (such as intricate woodworking) is not clear, though there are no obvious signs of use. It is perhaps more likely that it had a ritual function in the Bronze Age. Other examples of diminutive axes can also be seen in Needham (unpublished; figures 77, 82 and 91). Other examples can also be seen in Needham 1988, 'Selective deposition in the British Early Bronze Age', World Archaeology, volume 20, number 2, figure 4. These all illustrate the range in size and form of Bronze Age diminutive axes, enhancing the possibility that this object is in fact of Bronze Age date. The recorder would like to thank Stuart Needham for taking the time to discuss this object and for supplying the parallels.