Casgliadau Arlein

Socketed Axe blade fragment (Find No.11)

Part of a hoard of 39 bronze fragments representing a minimum of 38 artefacts discovered in a field following agricultural drainage work. All of the artefacts were reported as being discovered within an area of 2.4m (8 feet) of each other, of each other and at approximate depths of 20-30cm (8-12 inches).

The patination of the objects is consistent with them having been buried in a peaty peaty deposit, which has been known to result in a brown or black patina (Fontijn 2002,40). The hoard findspot was near small watercourse. A search of the Historic Environment Record (www.archwilio.org.uk) revealed no Bronze Age features of sites in the adjacent fields.

Detailed Description; This is a blade fragment of a copper-alloy socketed axe. The blade is slightly flared and appears to have been curved, although the cutting edge is now badly damaged. Enough of the socket remains to indicate that the axe was cast with a mis-aligned core; this may have influenced the breakage. There is some overlap between the two faces of the axe, visible down one side of the fragment, indicating that there was a slight displacement of the mould-pair when the axe was cast. The casting seams are visible as slightly raised blunt ridges. There are no visible casting flaws. Fine striations are visible running parallel to the surviving blade edge, indicating that the axe was sharpened and prepared for use.

The axe fragment has a dark brown patina. There are cracks and several holes within the surface of the axe.