Casgliadau Arlein

One of a Hoard of twenty one bronze tools, weapons and ingot fragments dating to the Ewart Park phase of the Late Bronze Age (1000-800 BC)

This is a South Wales Type socketed axe, bronze – incomplete

A near complete ribbed socketed axe of bronze, missing one-quarter of its mouth and one upper face. The axe has slightly concave sides which diverge slightly towards the blade end, expanding outwards to create a well expanded and deeply curved cutting edge. The axe has a prominent and narrow mouth moulding, from which a narrow and relatively long loop descends. The body is sub-rectangular in cross-section with rounded face-edges, with a sub-rectangular shaped mouth with rounded corners. Three narrow and sub-rectangular runner stubs are visible around the surviving socket mouth. Three longitudinal and converging ribs descend from the base of the moulding, extending down three-quarters of the length of each face. The upper break edges are well worn, the break probably occurred in antiquity. The blade-edge has small areas of chipped damage.

The hoard contains 13 axe heads, 1 palstave, 3 spearheads, 1 sword and 2 fragments from copper and leaded bronze ingots of Late Bronze Age (1150-800BC) dates. 1 additional post-medieval copper alloy object was found nearby but was probably mixed in by chance. The hoard was discovered on the south-eastward facing slope of a shallow valley with a view of the Bristol Channel. There was no obvious watercourse flowing nearby.