File:Early Bronze Age Migdale flat axe (FindID 499904-378862).jpg

English: Two Early Bronze Age bronze flat axes, probably of Type Migdale (Schmidt & Burgess, 1981, p 35-44)[1], of Metalworking Assemblage III, corresponding to Needham's (1996)[2] Period 2 -3 and probably dating to c. 2,200 - 1,900BC.

One axe is near-complete, missing the blade edge but is fragmentary with fairly extensive corrosion and peripheral loss (with a surviving length as joined of 129.2mm and a combined weight of 299.0g). The parts of the axe have a corroded join and are likely to have been joined at the break. The butt is now rounded but is corroded and thin (with a width of 22mm and a thickness of 4mm). The sides of the axe are comparatively straight, giving the axe a somewhat triangular shape. Where the sides are preserved, they are relatively flat across their thickness, with some faceting, producing a rectangular section. There is no evidence of flanges on the sides. The axe is thickest (at 10.6mm) just above the break, at the approximate midpoint of the axe (64mm from the butt) with no discernible medial bevel. The axe is likely to have had a lenticular profile, although the break and loss of the blade makes the profile difficult to assess. The blade faces are very gently convex across their widths. The blade edge has been lost and there is no evidence of blade facets. The current edge (with a surviving width of 63.0mm and a thickness of 7mm) is gently curved. The surface is better preserved on one face and has a green to green-brown patina with no decoration, and elsewhere is pale green.

The second axe is near-complete, missing the blade edge but is fragmentary with fairly extensive corrosion and peripheral loss (with a surviving length as joined of 146.9mm and a combined weight of 405.5g). The parts of the axe have a poor join but were likely to have been joined at the break. The butt is now rounded but is corroded (with a width of 30mm and a thickness of 7mm). The sides of the axe are also heavily corroded but appear straight and divergent as far as the break, after which they diverge more sharply one side shows concavity. The axe still retains a somewhat triangular shape. Both sides are damaged but there is no evidence of flanges on the axe. The axe is thickest (at 11.4mm) above the break, at the approximate midpoint of the axe (70mm from the butt) with no discernible medial bevel. The axe is likely to have had a lenticular profile, although the break and loss of the blade makes the profile difficult to assess. The blade faces are flat on the rear becoming gently convex by the midpoint across their widths. The blade edge has been lost and there is no evidence of blade facets. The current edge (with a surviving width of 70.3mm and a thickness of 8mm) has a gentle curve but is comparatively straight. The surface is better preserved on one face and has a green to green-brown patina with no decoration, and elsewhere is pale green. The better preserved face has matching patches of corrosion on both parts, seemingly suggesting that they had been placed with one part on to of the other and with the corrosion suggesting the butt fragment was possibly on the blade fragment.

[1] Schmidt, P.K. & Burgess, C. 1981; The Axes of Scotland and Northern Ireland, Praähistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung IX, 7. Band 7 [2] Needham, S. 1996; Chronology and Periodisation in the British Bronze Age , Acta Archaeologica 67, p. 121-140