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South Wales Variant Socketed Axe - near complete (Find no.2)

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 near-complete copper-alloy ribbed socketed axe, missing one-quarter of the mouth and upper face. The sides are straight and parallel, leading towards a moderately expanded and curved blade. In plan-view, the mouth is sub-rectangular, with a rectangular shaped body in cross-section. The mouth is defined by a pronounced, everted and relatively deep collar band (c. 10mm deep), from which a slender side-loop descends from the underside of. Three prominent longitudinal ribs descend from beneath the collar band, extending approximately two-thirds of the way down both faces. Althoguh the surface is damaged, there is the suggestion that the axe once had raised face edges. The ribs on one face are discontinous and less well-defined towards the blade end, suggesting the axe was cast using a re-used mould. The remains of two runner-stubs are visible around the socket rim, located 90 degrees apart - along the loop-side and one face. The casting seams are only slightly visible down both sides and appear to have been hammered and filed down. The blade edge is asymmetrical, appearing slightly more pronounced towards the loop-side. The upper break edges appear within the patinated surface and are well-eroded, suggesting that the axe was broken in antiquity. There is a shallow crack along the width of the upper blade (c. 26.5mm by 0.8mm), which appears soil covered and within the patinated surface, but there are no clear hammer/chisel impact marks associated with this crack which would indicate deliberate damage caused during antiquity. When viewed from an oblique angle, the face of the axe appears slightly concave; this concavity may have resulted from the axe being struck, with force, by a blunt ended tool, although it is also possible that this was caused by an imperection in the shaping of the mould-piece, from which this axe was cast from.

The axe has a dark-brown to orange-brown patina. One face is more eroded, with a light-brown patina across most of it surface. Glossy black surfaces can be seen along the blade edge, where the surface of the axe has been damaged.