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Palstave mid-blade fragment, probably Late Palstave (Find no.16)

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 mid-blade framgent of a copper-alloy palstave. The sides of the palstave fragment are near-straight and slightly divergent. The casting seams appear to have been hammered and filed down, as they are only slightly visible down both sides of the palstave fragment. The break edges are soil covered and eroded, suggesting that the palstave was broken in antiquity. Two shallow and ovoid shaped impact marks are visible across one face, positioned below the upper and lower break edges; these were likely caused when the object was heated and struck with a blunt ended tool in antiquity, to faciliate its breakage.

The palstave fragment has a dark brown patina.