Description

Summary: 1 bronze dagger (the largest found in Wiltshire) with 6 rivet holes (three remaining) and parts of a wooden sheath adhereing to the blade, decorated with a rounded ridge, found with a primary male inhumation (near right arm) in Bowl Barrow Wilsford G5, excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

One of the gold studs associated with one of the hilts of the Bush Barrow daggers was analysed by Dr Chris Standish of Southampton University. Analysis of trace lead isotopes found that the alloy used in the production of the studs is indistinguishable from the gold circulating in Ireland in this period and that a source in Wales or Cornwall is most likely. That gold from this source appears to have made it as far as Orkney means that there is every chance that it could have been exported to Armorica prior to being worked, however it does also raise the possiblity of an association with the local sheet-gold cover metal working tradition.

One of two Bronze Age copper alloy daggers found immediately next to the torso of the crouched primary inhumation at Bush barrow (Wilsford G5) by William Cunnington in 1808. The dagger has an elongated triangular blade with a central rib, a vestigial tang and with three of six rivets surviving at the hilt. By its form the blade can be classified as fitting into the Armorico-British Series 4A, dating it to c. 1950-1700 BC. Close examination of X-radiagraphs taken of this dagger revealed minute gold studs preserved within the mineralised wood at the hilt end, meaning that both of the surviving daggers from the Bush Barrow were decorated in this distinctive style, thought to have originated in Brittany. The gold itself may have been mined in Cornwall, however! The mineralised remains of a multi-layered sheath also survive, revealing a typical arrangement of sheep-skin liner and wooden reinforcement, with a presumed outer layer lost.

The Bush Barrow grave is discussed in detail by Needham et al. (2010), who return to Cunnington and Hoare's original notes and publications in order to reassess recontructions of the primary inhumation's layout. They argue for a more typical crouched inhumation, led on its left side, and possition the grave goods accordingly based on Cunnington's descriptions. Their new reconstruction highlights the distance of a small group of rivets and fragments from the rest of the group. Previously interpretted as a helmet or alidade, they reinterpret these as the remains of a dagger with a studded hilt, typical of a period earlier than the rest of the assemblage and suggesting the burial may have disturbed an earlier inhumation.

This dagger is discussed in detail by Corfield (2012), publishing the results of research he had undertaken in the mid-1980s. He discusses both daggers in the context of similar hilts from Britanny and carries out detailed description of the surviving elements of the daggers based on X-radiographs and microscopic analysis; he also describes the presence of minute awl tips within the assemblage of surviving gold wire studs - supporting the suggestion that the holes for the studs had been pre-drilled. Based on the surviving fragments, he calculates a density of 1,056 studs per centimetre squared, which would result in a total of 138,000 studs for one of the daggers alone!

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.