British Decorated Axes and their Diffusion during the Earlier Part of the Bronze Age

Abstract

It is intended in this paper to describe briefly the occurrence and, to a limited extent, the variety of ornamented metal axes belonging to the earlier part of the British and Irish Bronze Age, rather than to publish the results of an exhaustive study, such as the present writers have had no opportunity of making. The present aim is to indicate in a general way the importance of these axes in the material culture of our Bronze Age, and that of Western and Northern Europe. The objects themselves have been well discussed up to a point by Wilde (51) and Evans (23), but without special consideration of the significance of their distribution and associations.These ornamented axes, which are of the ‘flat’ or ‘flanged’ type, are apparently all of bronze. Some analyses have been made (3, 27, 42), but without spectrographic examination (48) it is difficult to draw any definite conclusions as to the source of the ores used or the place of manufacture. Open moulds for casting axes of the ‘flat’ form (e.g. pl. LIII, c, d) have been found in various parts of the British Isles, and their distribution is discussed on page 287.

The Wessex culture: a minimal view

“…In the south of England, we do in fact find the relevant axes, in the slender, waisted, arched-butt, flanged, widebladed axes of the Plymstock, Arreton Down, and other hoards (Britton, 1963). These axes are generally assumed to be a part of the Irish Type I11 axes of Megaw and Hardy (1938), but a detailed examination suggests to us that differences between the two groups exist; these differences are not important to our argument, but Type I11 axes differ in their square butts, their flange treatment, their decoration (Harbison, 1969a;Megaw and Hardy, 1938). A common source of inspiration, however, whether exotic or native, is not necessarily excluded by this.…”

Stages in the Chronological Development of Hoards and Votive Deposits

“…Bronze axe hoards can create similar problems. Some early Bronze Age axes show the same decoration as funerary ceramics (Megaw and Hardy 1938). Sometimes their cutting edges had been intentionally broken or damaged (Schmidt and Burgess 1981, 18) and there are even cases in which individual axe heads had been wrapped in fabric containers before they were deposited (Barrett 1985, 104-05).…”

“…Sometimes their cutting edges had been intentionally broken or damaged (Schmidt and Burgess 1981, 18) and there are even cases in which individual axe heads had been wrapped in fabric containers before they were deposited (Barrett 1985, 104-05). Some early Bronze Age axes show the same decoration as funerary ceramics (Megaw and Hardy 1938). Schmidt (1979) has argued that some of these objects possessed a nonutilitarian character that was possibly emphasized by their depiction in contemporary rock art.…”

The myth of the mother‐goddess

“…It must be admitted that the Irish climate of today provides a complete explanation of any prehistoric efforts to placate the sun ! The myth of the mother-goddess 259 Age, and may date from a time when Irish metallurgists were exporting their products, and perhaps their beliefs, across the Irish Sea (Megaw and Hardy 1938). Their activities in the export field are clear by now in Denmark and the Low Countries (Butler i960: 201) and in north-western France (Briard 1965: 51-77).…”