A late Bronze Age Socketed Axe in Ditchling Museum.

A socketed axe was recently handed in to Ditchling Museum along with other material, which had been found during the clearance of an attic. There was no associated paperwork with the axe, and the donor did not know from where it had originated.

The axe is 126mm long, and is rectangular in section having dimensions of 38.5mm x 31.5mm at the socket end. At the cutting edge the blade is 31.5mm wide and 5mm thick. It weighs 271gms. The cutting edge has been damaged, with numerous small facets and a larger break at one edge. The end of the blade is very abraded, and it is presumed that all of this damage was as a result of its use and not through later damage as the patina on the facets is identical to the rest of the axe. It has a small loop near the socket end on its side, which is an integral part of the mould. Around the top of the socket end is a pronounced lip, which is quite irregular in places, presumably as a result of an incomplete casting. The lip has a maximum depth of 11mm, and some 4mm below the lip is a ridge 3mm wide, which runs around the axe, but does not meet at the same height at the mould join.

The closest parallels for this type of axe date from the Late Bronze Age, although there are socketed axes from the 11^th century BC. However, there is no reason why it has to have a British provenance, and may even have originated from a continental source.