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LOT 0275
'The Braintree' Bronze Age Axehead and Foundry 'Carp's Tongue/Ewart Phase' Hoard
DEPOSITED CIRCA 900-800 B.C.
7/8 - 4 3/8 in. (5.20 kg total, 2-11 cm).
Being an entire 'founder' hoard deposit comprising: complete socketted axes (6; three with linear ornament to sockets); fragments of socketted and earlier type palstave axes (18, including two that fit together); fragments of other items (4) and pieces of copper 'bun' ingot (8). [36]
ProvenanceFound whilst searching with a metal detector in Braintree, Essex, UK, on 14th August 2019.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BM-C514EA and with a copy of the Harwich Museum loan form.
Disclaimed under the Treasure Act with reference number 2019 T731.
The British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), reference BM-C514EA (this find).
Exhibited at Harwich Museum, Harwich, Essex, UK, 29th June-4th September 2023.
See Pendleton, Colin F., Bronze Age Metalwork in Northern East Anglia, BAR British Series 279, 1999, for much information on similar pieces found in East Anglia; see also Evans, John, The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1881.
FootnotesThe composition of this hoard is quite typical of similar deposits found across south-eastern England and dating to the Late Bronze Age; most such finds include broken fragments together with pieces of ingot and some complete items, as seen here. It is unusual to see an entire deposit offered together as most such are either held in museums or have been divided up.
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LOT 0275
'The Braintree' Bronze Age Axehead and Foundry 'Carp's Tongue/Ewart Phase' Hoard
Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
-
Large Bronze Age Freeform 'Pancake' Founder's Ingot
2nd millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £72
Of amorphous form with inclusions to both surfaces; accompanied by a custom-made display stand. 2 kg total, 34.5 cm high including stand
Found Cotham, Newark, Nottinghamshire, UK.
These ingots were cast in shallow scoops carved into boulders or stones at places where the ore was mined and smelted; they were then traded across the Bronze Age world as raw material. -
'The Braintree' Bronze Age Axehead and Foundry 'Carp's Tongue/Ewart Phase' Hoard
Deposited circa 900-800 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £3,380
Being an entire 'founder' hoard deposit comprising: complete socketted axes (6; three with linear ornament to sockets); fragments of socketted and earlier type palstave axes (18, including two that fit together); fragments of other items (4) and pieces of copper 'bun' ingot (8). 5.20 kg total, 2-11 cm
Found whilst searching with a metal detector in Braintree, Essex, UK, on 14th August 2019. Accompanied by a copy of the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) report no.BM-C514EA and with a copy of the Harwich Museum loan form. Disclaimed under the Treasure Act with reference number 2019 T731.
The composition of this hoard is quite typical of similar deposits found across south-eastern England and dating to the Late Bronze Age; most such finds include broken fragments together with pieces of ingot and some complete items, as seen here. It is unusual to see an entire deposit offered together as most such are either held in museums or have been divided up. -
Bronze Age Central European Axehead
Circa 1st millennium B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £91
With an elliptical socket and wedge-shaped cheeks. 894 grams, 17.5 cm
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s. East Anglian private collection.