File:Early Bronze Age bronze Developed Flat Axe (FindID 454439).jpg

English: Early Bronze Age bronze Developed Flat Axe of Type Aylesford and of Stage IV metalworking, corresponding to Needham's (1996) Period 3, dated to 2,050 - 1,700BC

The axe is complete (with a length of 155.3mm and a weight of 507.3g). The butt is moderately rounded and thin (with a width of 38.4mm and a thickness of 3mm). The sides are concave, narrowing to a point near the butt (with a width of 36.1mm and 35mm from the butt), before gradually diverging to approximately the midpoint and diverging sharply to the blade. The sides have been carefully hammered to produce a bevel and a central ridge. The blade is moderately curved and is unexpanded at the tips (producing a blade width of 82.3mm). There is no evidence of flanges on the edges of the face but the axe has a lozenge-shaped long section, indicating it to be of 'Developed' form. The median bevel occurs at the midpoint of the axe (approximately 77mm from the butt, where the axe has a maximum thickness of 13.5mm and a width of 41.1mm). The axe faces are convex across their widths at the blade and butt and are near-flat at the mid-section. A gentle blade facet is discernible on both faces (occurring around 11mm from the blade edge). There is no evidence of applied decoration on the axe and no definite sharpening striations at the blade. The surface is heavily-pitted with a pale-green corrosion; patches of the original surface survive with a silvery, dark-green patina.

Aylseford axes are typologically the most primitive and therefore the earliest of the Developed axe types (Schmidt & Burgess, 1981, p 60) . This find represents the thirteenth known example of a recorded Aylesford type axe from Wales, with a general distribution centred on Glamorganshire and eastern Gwent for the seven examples from South Wales.