Description

Summary: 1 bronze dagger with four rivets (two left), a broad flat blade and rounded point (when found having the remains of a wooden sheath still attached to it), found with primary crouched inhumation in bowl barrow Wimborne St. Giles G9, excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

A Bronze Age copper alloy butt-rivetted flat dagger blade, excavated by William Cunnington in the early 1800s. The dagger was found alongside the primary crouched inhumation of bowl barrow Wimborne St. Giles G9, in Dorset, alongside a number of other finds, including a button and belt ring of shale/jet-like material. The dagger is of a form dating to early in the Bronze Age, c. 2200-1950 BC.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.