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Middle Bronze Age bronze looped palstave
Middle Bronze Age bronze axe (palstave)
This is a complete bronze axe type called a palstave. It is of slender shape, having a broad blade edge and with a loop on its upper side. This was used to help bind the metal blade onto its wooden handle or haft, probably using rawhide or coarse twine. A dividing wooden handle was originally slotted onto the end of the palstave, the haft being near L-shaped to enable a wood- cutting motion.
The combination of technological features on this palstave enable it to be identified to a class and specific type circulating and in use in Britain during the Taunton phase of the Middle Bronze Age (1400-1275 BCE). The palstave was cast in a two-piece mould, probably itself made of bronze. A casting seam, or projecting line running down the side length of the palstave was created in the join between the two mould halves, called valves. Although widely used as a kind of woodcutting and carpentry tool, it is likely that palstaves could have served at times as weapons, while also saying something about the identity of the owner as a member of this early farming community.
Dyma enghraifft o fwyell efydd gyflawn o’r enw palstaf. Mae’n fain, gydag ymyl llafn llydan a dolen ar ei hochr uchaf. Defnyddiwyd y ddolen hon i helpu i glymu’r llafn metel wrth ei garn neu goes pren, gan ddefnyddio cortyn garw neu irgroen, fwy na thebyg. Roedd carn pren yn cael ei slotio i mewn i ben y palstaf yn wreiddiol i’w rannu, ac roedd ei goes yn debyg i siâp L i alluogi symudiad torri coed.
Mae’r cyfuniad o nodweddion technolegol ar y palstaf hwn yn golygu y gellir adnabod fel un sy’n perthyn i ddosbarth a math penodol a oedd yn gyffredin ac yn cael ei ddefnyddio ym Mhrydain yn ystod cyfnod Taunton yng Nghanol yr Oes Efydd (1400-1275 CC). Cafodd y palstaf ei gastio mewn mowld dau ddarn, a oedd ei hun wedi’i wneud o efydd, fwy na thebyg. Crëwyd haen gastio, neu linell ymwthiol sy’n mynd i lawr ochr y palstaf, yn yr uniad rhwng dau hanner y mowld, a elwir yn falfiau. Er bod palstafau’n cael eu defnyddio’n gyffredin fel erfyn torri coed a gwaith coed, mae’n debygol y gallen nhw fod wedi cael eu defnyddio fel arfau ar adegau, yn ogystal â dweud rhywbeth am y sawl oedd yn berchen arnynt fel aelod o’r gymuned ffermio gynnar hon.
This rich and varied group of bronze and gold objects was once carefully buried together as a hoard group. Dating to the Middle Bronze Age (1400-1275 BCE) it includes fragments from at least two twisted bronze neck-rings, a variety of bronze and gold bracelets and a large bronze dress-pin, also buried with a bronze dagger and a palstave axe. A first for Wales, similar ornaments and hoards have been found across southern England and northern France. This suggests that the original wearer maintained long-distance cultural connections and shared common stylistic trends.
Cafodd y gwrthrychau efydd ac aur cyfoethog ac amrywiol hyn eu claddu gyda’i gilydd yn ofalus fel celc ar un adeg. Maen nhw’n dyddio o Ganol yr Oes Efydd (1400-1275 CC) ac yn cynnwys darnau o ddwy dorch efydd droellog o leiaf, amrywiaeth o freichledau efydd ac aur a phin gwisg efydd mawr, a oedd hefyd wedi’u claddu gyda dagr efydd a bwyell balstaf. Dyma’r tro cyntaf i dlysau a chelc o’r fath gael eu canfod yng Nghymru, ond mae rhai tebyg wedi’u canfod yn ne Lloegr a gogledd Ffrainc. Mae hyn yn awgrymu bod y sawl a oedd yn eu gwisgo’n wreiddiol yn cynnal cysylltiadau diwylliannol ar draws pellter hir ac yn rhannu steil gyffredin.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION Palstave (Group III Low-flanged (Broad-blade) Palstave). Complete bronze looped palstave of slender proportions but broad-bladed form, with a single midrib extending down at least two thirds of the length of the blade. The body tapers slightly beneath the stop, while the sides are straight and divergent, down to the recurving of the blade edge. The loop is narrow, overlapping with the positioning of the stop. The flanges are convex, curved and widest above the stop, merging with the septum short of the butt end. The septum represents less than half of the length of the palstave and has a central rib on both faces. The stop is curved, while the butt end is straight and angular. The blade edge is deeply curved and expanded, with protruding blade tips. The casting seam is off centre, indicating one mould part deeper than the other. The seam has been filed or hammered down, but still visible and slightly protruding. On the loop side, there are slight indentations below the loop, possibly hammer marks. On the blade bevel, there are hammer marks, while striations are evident at right angles to the blade edge, suggesting the blade was sharpened for use. On one blade bevel surface is a long prominent surface scratch, possibly made in antiquity. The palstave has a mid to dark grey green patination, with localised bubbling concretions. The blade edge is fragile, with one or two recent chips to the edge, with a light green patination.
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Find Information
Site Name: Llantrisant Fawr, Monmouthshire
Notes: The hoard was discovered in 2013 by Phillip Turton, while he was metal-detecting on farm land under pasture, in Llantrisant Fawr Community, Monmouthshire. He responsibly reported the discovery and findspot to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales as a treasure find. With the help of the finder, an archaeological investigation of the findspot was undertaken by museum archaeologists in 2013. The hoard was subsequently declared to be treasure by the Coroner for Gwent in 2015. It was later acquired in 2016 for the national collection, with the help of grant funding provided by the Saving Treasures; Telling Stories project (Collecting Cultures Programme) funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Cafodd y celc ei ddarganfod yn 2013 gan Phillip Turton, wrth iddo ddefnyddio datgelydd metel ar dir pori yng Nghymuned Llantrisant Fawr, Sir Fynwy. Yn gyfrifol iawn, fe roddodd wybod i’r Cynllun Henebion Cludadwy yng Nghymru am y trysor a’r man lle’r oedd wedi’i ddarganfod. Gyda’i gymorth ef, fe gynhaliodd archaeolegwyr yr amgueddfa ymchwiliad archaeolegol o’r man darganfod yn 2013. Wedi hynny, cafodd y celc ei gyhoeddi’n drysor gan Grwner Gwent yn 2015. Yn ddiweddarach, cafodd ei brynu yn 2016 ar gyfer y casgliad cenedlaethol, gyda chymorth cyllid grant gan y prosiect Hel Trysor; Her Straeon (y Rhaglen Casglu Diwylliannau) sy’n cael ei ariannu trwy Gronfa Dreftadaeth y Loteri Genedlaethol. The artefacts were discovered in a dispersed scatter over a distance of 55m, though with a central focus. An archaeological investigation of the find-spot was undertaken by Adam Gwilt and Mark Lodwick on 26th September 2013, confirming the find-spots and burial focus. The burial focus was located at the top of a low hill plateau with good views up and down the Usk Valley. The scattered find-spots extending downslope, suggesting more dispersal of the hoard, probably in recent times.