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Group 12 Hollow-Bladed Spearhead blade fragment with small object 2026.3H/39 wedged inside.

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 an upper blade fragment from a spearhead. The sides converge towards the upper break edge, the blade likely to have once been leaf or flame-shaped. Although deformed, it is clear that this spearhead lacked a central mid-rib. Instead, the wide dimesnions of the aperture and the thin blade walls suggest that this spearhead had a hollow blade, which is a diagnostic feature.

The spearhead has been damaged in antiquity. It has been crushed to to the extent that there is a jaffed tear located along the middle of the blade, probably caused through repeated hammering.

A small bronze fragment (2026.3H/39) is wedged inside the crushed aperture, visible from the narrow break edge.

Grey-green patina with a patch of blue concretion visible on one face.