File:KENT5254. Bronze Age stone wristguard. (FindID 42144).jpg

English: Part of a polished stone archer's wristguard or 'bowman's bracer'. The guard has a flattish underside and slightly convex upper side with rounded edges, and is broken at both ends, possibly as a result of plough damage. One complete drilled circular hole is extant at one end, aligned centrally, and two similar holes partially survive either side of it on the broken end of the guard. Thus originally the guard would have had three holes in a transverse line towards each end. The number of holes, together with its shape, place it in Atkinsons Type B3 (Clark 1970; information from John Smythe). The guard is made of a polished stone, probably slate, schist (or possibly shale?) which is a very light grey externally, but a slightly darker shade of grey internally, as revealed by the broken ends. Guards such as these were designed to protect the archer's wrist from the bow string as an arrow was fired: they may have been attached to the wrist by leather straps threaded through the holes, although there is evidence on some that they were riveted to a leather backing or cuff (information from John Smythe). Such wristguards have been found in Beaker graves dated to circa 2500-2250 cal BC (Needham 2005).