English: Bronze Age Hoard

44 fragments of copper alloy ingot fragments were discovered in 2000 (prior to the inclusion of such hoards in the Treasure Act). These fragments weigh 4.882 kilogrammes; the average fragment weight is 110.95 grammes.

The weights of the copper ingot fragments from the hoard is given below. The numbers in brackets preceding the weight are the provisional catalogue numbers assigned each item. All weights are grammes, to the nearest gramme.

Catalogue number (1) 577g, (2) 342g, (3) 306g, (4) 270g, (5) 228g, (6) 191g, (7) 177g, (8) 190g, (9) 173g, (10) 130g, (11) 117g, (12) 136g, (13) 98g, (14) 97g, (15) 141g, (16) 124g, (17) 89g, (18) 129g, (19) 113g, (20) 83g, (21) 80g, (22) 82g, (23) 76g, (24) 61g, (25) 56g, (26) 61g, (27) 59g, (28) 70g, (29) 63g, (30) 87g, (31) 64g, (32) 66g, (33) 46g, (34) 52g, (35) 20g, (36) 39g, (37) 40g, (38) 28g, (39) 27g, (40) 31g, (41) 19g, (42) 24g, (43) 24g, and (44) 15g.

Thirteen of the fragments were selected for illustration, however their numbers are not the same as the numbers above.

Treasure case: 2006 T372

In addition to the above finds, the additional artefacts were discovered in July and September 2006, and reported as Treasure.

1. Sherd of prehistoric pottery from the base of a flat-bottomed vessel. It is tempered with abundant (> 10 per cm²) poorly-sorted burnt flint inclusions ranging up to 5mm across, but typically < 2mm. These flint inclusions are set in a fine, sand-free matrix. The outer surface is oxidised to a light red; the inner surface and core of the sherd are black. On the exterior of the base there is conspicuous flint rough-casting where the pot had apparently been rested on crushed burnt flint before it was fired; such rough-casting is typical of late Bronze Age pottery (O'Connell 1986,62). Weight: 19g.

2. Complete socketed axe in fine condition. The mouth is rectangular with a prominent collar; there is a pronounced horizontal moulding below from which the loop handle springs. The sides of the axe have gently curved sides that terminate in an unexpanded blade edge. Weight 185g; length 104mm; the socket mouth measures 39 x 40mm. Axes of this kind are the so-called South-eastern Type which is ubiquitous in the Home Counties and East Anglia. This conforms to a variant called the Bilton or Worthing Type (Schmidt & Burgess 1981, 214, l.85 nos. 1275-80)

July Ingot Fragments

3. The fragment has part of the flat upper surface and the curved edge, below which the ingot fragment falls away in a curve towards the (missing) lowest point of the bun-shaped ingot. Weight 228g.

4. The fragment is part of the flat upper surface of the bun-shaped ingot; the lower surface is also present. There is nothing of the curved edge and the fragment is deep enough for part of the lower surface to be present; to judge by its thickness, it must have come from towards the middle of the ingot rather than the outer curved edge. Weight 219g.

5. Description as for Number 4. weight 191g.

6. Description as for Number 3. weight 79g.

7. Part of the flat upper surface of an ingot; but the curved edge and basal surface are not present. Weight 44g.

8. Description as for Number 3. Weight 22g.

September Ingot Fragments

9. Description as for Number 3. Weight 217g.

10. The upper and lower surfaces of the original ingot are present, but not the curved outer edge; to judge by the shape of the piece, the parent ingot was a shallow one. Weight 131g.

11. Description as for Number 3. Weight 127g.

12. Description as for Number 3. Weight 101g.

13. The upper and lower surfaces of the original ingot are present; to judge by the onfiguration of the piece, it came from just inside the missing edge. Weight 101g.

14. Description as for Number 3. Weight 100g.

15. Description as for Number 3. Weight 83g.

16. Description as for Number 3. Weight 67g.

17. Description as for Number 3. Weight 45g.

18. Description as for Number 10. Weight 44g.

19. An amorphous fragment with no original surfaces. Weight 41g.

20. Description as for Number 13. Weight 19g.

21. Description as for Number 3. Weight 15g

22. The fragment has two flat and smooth surfaces but no original edges; both the upper and lower faces are parallel. The typology does not correspond with that of a standard Bronze Age ingot, nor is it a Bronze Age artefact. Despite its anomalous shape, it was found with the rest of the material and should therefore be considered prehistoric. Weight 241g.

Discussion

The finds retrieved represent a dispersed hoard of late Bronze Age copper ingot fragments and a complete socketed bronze axe. A sherd of pottery contemporary with the metalwork was also recovered. The socketed axe is in superlative condition. There are no significant signs of abrasion to the ingot fragments or pottery sherd, and there is no indication that they had been dislodged far from their original position.

The socketed axe is of south-eastern type which anchors the hoard securely in the Ewart Park phase of the late Bronze Age, now dated c.1020-800 BC on the basis of radiocarbon dates for wood in direct association with metalwork of the phase (Needham et al. 1998, 93, 98). The copper ingot fragments are also typical of the period as is the pottery sherd.

Twenty-two items (including the pot sherd) were recovered, with a total weight of 2.319kg. The metalwork of the hoard amounts to 2.3kg, with an average item weight of 109.5g. The 20 ingot fragments weigh 2.115kg, with an average weight of 105.75g. Weights were taken before conservation of the hoard; in some cases, particles of soil still adhere to parts of the surfaces, and this will have distorted the weights. Measurements are correct to the nearest gram and calculations correct to one decimal place.

Furthermore, in February and March 2000, 44 copper ingot fragments were found weighing 4.882kg in the same place as the metalwork described here. Although these finds were made before the Treasure Act was on the statute books and so fall outside the remit of this report, they should be taken into account when evaluating the archaeological significance of the Langford discoveries.

Many similar hoards of this period have been retrieved in what represents the peak period of bronze deposition (Needham 1990, 130-40; Needham et al. 1998, 93). These centuries coincide with the appearance of the earliest iron in Britain (Collard et al. 2006) though the relationship to the increased bronze deposition is not necessarily a straightforward replacement as has been argued (Burgess 1979, 275-6). The evidence for iron is relatively sparse for the early 1st millennium BC indicating a very slow adoption process. Needham (2007) has recently argued that there was a collapse in the value systems surrounding the acquisition and deposition of bronze which might provide an explanation.

Conclusion

Though contextual details are sparse, it is probable that these objects formed a single original deposit or hoard dispersed through the actions of the plough seems very likely. The single sherd of prehistoric pottery could be contemporary with the metalwork and might be part of the container in which the hoard had been buried.

The Langford hoard is a collection of prehistoric metalwork and a sherd of prehistoric pottery more than 300 years old and so there is a prima facie case for considering the find to be treasure, under the new Treasure Order (2002) being a base-metal prehistoric find containing two or more metal objects.

Dr Paul R. Sealey March 2007 Assistant Curator of Archaeology Colchester Museums

Ben Roberts 11th June 2007 Curator of European Bronze Age British Museum Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG

Bibliography

Burgess, C.B., 1979. 'A find from Boyton, Suffolk, and the end of the Bronze Age in Britain and Ireland', in C.B. Burgess and D.G. Coombs (eds), Bronze Age Hoards: Some Finds Old and New (British Archaeological Reports, British Series 67) (Oxford), 269-82

Collard, M., Darvill, T. & Watts, M. 2007. Ironworking in the Bronze Age? Evidence from a 10th century BC Settlement at Hartshill Copse, Upper Bucklebury, West Berkshire. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 72, 367-422.

Needham, S.P., 1990. The Petters Late Bronze Age Metalwork: An Analytical Study of Thames Valley Metalworking in its Settlement Context (British Museum Occasional Paper 70) (London)

Needham, S.P., Bronk Ramsay, C., Coombs, D.G., Cartwright, C. and Pettitt, P., 1998. 'An independent chronology for British Bronze Age metalwork: the results of the Oxford radiocarbon accelerator programme', Archaeol. J. 154 for 1997, 55-107

Needham, S.P. 2007. 800 BC. The Great Divide. In Haselgrove C.C. and Pope R.E. (eds.) The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent. Oxford: Oxbow Books

O'Connell, M., 1986. Petters Sports Field, Egham: Excavation of a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Site (Research Volume of the Surrey Archaeological Society 10) (Guildford)

Schmidt, P.K. and Burgess, C.B., 1981. The Axes of Scotland and Northern England (Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.7) (Munich)