Casgliadau Arlein

South Wales type socketed axe. This is a complete socketed axe with slightly concave and divergent sides, with significant expansion and recurving at the blade end. The axe has a prominent and slightly bulbous mouth moulding, with a high placed and relatively wide loop descending from its underside. Three well-defined and convergent ribs descend from the moulding on each face, extending down approximately two-thirds of the length of the faces. On one face, the outer rib, furthest from the loop side is more markedly angled and convergent, suggesting an imperfection in the shaping of this mould piece. The axe is rectangular in cross-section with angled face edges. The casting seams down each side are prominent, but have been hammered to remove sharp edges. The mouth is sub-oval in external shape, with a sub-rectangular shaped internal aperture, with rounded corners. Four runner stubs are evident around the mouth, indicating a four-runner casting technology. One upper face has a shallow depressed area, suggesting an irregularity in the shaping of the mould-piece used for casting the axe. Along the blade bevel, the presence of linear surface striations parallel with the axis of the blade indicate that the blade of the axes was prepared and sharpened. The axe has a grey-green patina over most surfaces. On the upper faces, there are patches of black patination, suggesting that the axe may have been deliberately coloured through a patination process, after casting. The blade edge is heavily worn, with light green and fragile powdery surfaces.