Description

Summary: Breton type socketed axe, from River Hill, Shalbourne.

Research results

An Early Iron Age copper alloy Armorican socketed axehead, found at River Hill, Shalbourne. Armorican axeheads belong to the Llyn Fawr metalworking phase, now thought to be contemporary with the earliest Iron Age, dating to 800-600 BC. Armorican axeheads are made of a leaded bronze which is of little use as a practical tool, and many axeheads of the type are found in as cast condition, with no signs of ever being prepared for use (in some cases even retaining a clay core in their socket, preventing their being used). In Britanny, where the axeheads were probably produced, over 200 hoards of 20,000+ axeheads are known, whereas hoards elsewhere are much smaller. In the UK the axeheads are mostly found along the south coast, and particularly in Cornwall and Hampshire. This axehead was one of a number stolen from the museum in 1934, during a major burglary, only to be returned 51 years later when the axeheads were recognised in the collections of Ipswich Museum, having been sold with a false provenance.

This axhead was re-examined by Boughton (2015) as part of her PhD discussing Early Iron Age socketed axeheads. This study examined over 1400 axeheads from across Britain, defining a number of new types, some of which are regional, along with local and regional practices.