Description

Summary: 1 copper dagger, with broad, flat, straight blade with slight bevel at edge, the largest blade of its type ever recorded in Britain, from barrow G8 on Roundway Hill, Roundway, Wiltshire, excavated by W Cunnington, 1855.

Research results

A copper alloy tanged dagger blade excavated in 1855 by William Cunnington, from a beaker burial under a barrow on Roundway Hill (Roundway G8), near Devizes. One of the largest of its type known, daggers of this form are found with graves dating to the very earliest Bronze Age, sometimes refered to as the Chalcolithic, dating to c. 2450-2300 BC. This early date is also supported by the other grave goods, but is contradicted by a radiocarbon date of the associated remains, 2280-2030 cal BC, which is thought to be anomalous.

Skeletal material from this burial was sampled as part of the Beaker People project (Pearson et al 2019), during which it was Radiocarbon dated and its Nitrogen, Carbon, Strontium, Oxygen and Sulphur isotopes were analysed for insights into ancient diets and population mobility. The scheme of radiocarbon dating has suggested that the use of beaker burials in Britain had largely ceased by 1950 cal BC, earlier than previously thought, whist isotopic analysis has revealed that only 65% of those buried in the chalklands of central southern England were liekly to be local, whilst they all ate a largely terrestrial diet.

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.