Copper-alloy Flat Axe Head - c2500 - 2000 BC to a £1 Coin 1983

DavidBeard

Hero Member
Dec 27, 2008
507
44
Derbyshire
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac / Garrett Pro-Pointer
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I've been given permission to search on a new farm, still within the same county but further from my home than any of my other regular farms. It is mainly pasture again and could become another regular hunting ground as they have many acres to explore. The place isn't too far from a few of the Neolithic sites in the area so I was expecting some very old finds perhaps pre-Roman.
The first visit turned out not to be too exciting as I'd spent most of the afternoon finding my bearings wandering from one field to the next (there are many fields) trying to find where would be a good place to start a thorough search.
It threw up a few items though,
Lovely Spindle Whorl,
Old Horse Rosette,
Old Lead Bag Seal,
An Initialled Lead Post Top,
Just 4 coins; George VI and New Pennies!
And a long strip of Gilded Hammered Copper that still remains a mystery:

Visit1.jpg

My second visit however, I concentrated on just one field, right at the top of the valley and it turned out to be one of my best days ever as a Metal Detectorist! Finding my oldest find to date – finding infact a relic so old that I know I won't be able to beat it in age, not in Great Britain anyway. A Copper-alloy Flat Axe:

Flat-Axe-1.jpg

Flat-Axe-2.jpg

Flat-Axe-3.jpg

Dating from c2500-2000 BC,
You can image how I excited I was – It was only around 7-8 inches deep, It didn't give a strong, big signal on the Etrac and I thought I was about to dig just another copper penny – how wrong could I have been?
It measures 100mm long, width across blade 43mm, width across butt 14mm, 9mm thick and weighs 161.5grams it's a beauty, the earliest type of bronze tool to be found in Britain and I'd just dug one up.

God in his wisdom also gave me another crusty Victorian penny (less I forget), A few pennies in fact, George III, George V and from 2500 BC to 1983 AD, A Liz II Pound Coin (for the beer fund!) A span of over 4000 years of humanity in my hands!
Coins-George3-5-Vic-1pound.jpg

To top the excitement, just a few feet away lying on the grass was this Stag's Horn, Another beauty:
Stags-Horn.jpg

Also came away with a few fragments:
Fragments.jpg

A George V 1913 Sixpence in great condition:
George-V-1913-Sixpence.jpg

A Lead Bag Seal from ‘Derby’:
Lead-Bag-Seal-Derby.jpg

2 musket balls and what seems to be a lead game piece:
Musket-balls-lead-piece.jpg

I spent a good few minutes talking to the farmer and his wife afterwards (a lovely couple) – and as you can image, I can't wait to get back there!
Best wishes,
David.
 

Upvote 6
Yeap the mark I of axe heads, none earlier. It is possible to beat with some early Bronze age items but not likely :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

Its all coming together now :icon_thumright:
 

Wow! Great pull!

Now if you would just learn to measure (we use the English system), I would know how big it is.

Fathead
 

Hi David, It looks like you are going to be posting some more excellent finds in the near future :icon_thumleft:. I am looking forward to reading your posts ;D. Agreed I vote banner.

hammered
 

fathead said:
Wow! Great pull!

Now if you would just learn to measure (we use the English system), I would know how big it is.

Fathead
Hi Fathead,
Its not too big at all, fits easily in the palm of your hand, pretty heavy though. Should I take another picture of it next to something familiar for comparison?
 

Fantastic finds!!! You are my HERO!!! :notworthy:
 

DB, I was just taking the stuffing out of you.

Plus I found a centimeter ruler that my science teacher made me buy in the early 80's because "The US will have to switch to metric within the next ten years."

He like so many underestimate our pigheaded ability to cling to policies and practices that fly in the face of common sense.

Still the coolest ax I have ever seen.

FH
 

DavidBeard said:
fathead said:
Wow! Great pull!

Now if you would just learn to measure (we use the English system), I would know how big it is.

Fathead
Hi Fathead,
Its not too big at all, fits easily in the palm of your hand, pretty heavy though. Should I take another picture of it next to something familiar for comparison?

Should I take another picture of it next to something familiar for comparison? :laughing7: :laughing7: :laughing7:

Nice hunt !!:icon_thumleft:
 

Now that HAS to be a banner find. What are the odds of finding one, let alone one in the shape that is in. It's one nice piece. Like the other stuff, love that axe...no two ways about it.
 

DMN said:
Now that HAS to be a banner find. What are the odds of finding one, let alone one in the shape that is in. It's one nice piece. Like the other stuff, love that axe...no two ways about it.

Agreed should be banner, the odds are about 1 in 20 years. (for most normal detectorist, some of course find many)
 

CRUSADER said:
Agreed should be banner, the odds are about 1 in 20 years. (for most normal detectorist, some of course find many)
I don't mind waiting another 20 years for another 1! Done a search on here though and can't find any more at all - Seen in books and mags where hoards of Axe Heads have been found but they haven't been as old as this type. Apparantly they represented more than just a cutting tool, here are a few words from Wikipedia:
"...At least since the late Neolithic, elaborate axes (battle-axes, T-axes, etc.) had a religious significance and probably indicated the exalted status of their owner. Certain types almost never show traces of wear; deposits of unshafted axe blades from the middle Neolithic (such as at the Somerset Levels in Britain) may have been gifts to the deities.
In Minoan Crete, the double axe (labrys) had a special significance, used by women priests in religious ceremonies. In 1998 a labrys, complete with an elaborately embellished haft, was found at Cham-Eslen, Canton of Zug, Switzerland. The haft was 120 cm long and wrapped in ornamented birch-bark. The axe blade is 17.4 cm long and made of antigorite, mined in the Gotthard-area. The haft goes through a biconical drilled hole and is fastened by wedges of antler and by birch-tar. It belongs to the early Cortaillod culture..."


Bed's calling again - speak tomorrow.
:sleepy2:
 

WOW!!

That axe is to die for. . . outstanding :thumbsup:

You have my Banner vote with that piece
 

DavidBeard said:
CRUSADER said:
Agreed should be banner, the odds are about 1 in 20 years. (for most normal detectorist, some of course find many)
I don't mind waiting another 20 years for another 1! Done a search on here though and can't find any more at all - Seen in books and mags where hoards of Axe Heads have been found but they haven't been as old as this type. Apparantly they represented more than just a cutting tool, here are a few words from Wikipedia:
"...At least since the late Neolithic, elaborate axes (battle-axes, T-axes, etc.) had a religious significance and probably indicated the exalted status of their owner. Certain types almost never show traces of wear; deposits of unshafted axe blades from the middle Neolithic (such as at the Somerset Levels in Britain) may have been gifts to the deities.
In Minoan Crete, the double axe (labrys) had a special significance, used by women priests in religious ceremonies. In 1998 a labrys, complete with an elaborately embellished haft, was found at Cham-Eslen, Canton of Zug, Switzerland. The haft was 120 cm long and wrapped in ornamented birch-bark. The axe blade is 17.4 cm long and made of antigorite, mined in the Gotthard-area. The haft goes through a biconical drilled hole and is fastened by wedges of antler and by birch-tar. It belongs to the early Cortaillod culture..."


Bed's calling again - speak tomorrow.
:sleepy2:

I've seen many & sold a few, some are thought to have been burial goods.
 

That flat axe is it a naturally formed alloy as in stone or is a very early forged metal :dontknow: nice find :thumbsup:
 

Deepdiger60 said:
That flat axe is it a naturally formed alloy as in stone or is a very early forged metal :dontknow: nice find :thumbsup:
Its of the very earliest forged metal - It is based on the Stone Age design difference being that its much smaller in size, has a rounded butt (nice!) and has a curved cutting edge.
As Crusader puts it this is 'Mark I' of the Axe heads, next on my list 'Mark II' and where's that gold coin hiding?
 

DavidBeard said:
Deepdiger60 said:
That flat axe is it a naturally formed alloy as in stone or is a very early forged metal :dontknow: nice find :thumbsup:
Its of the very earliest forged metal - It is based on the Stone Age design difference being that its much smaller in size, has a rounded butt (nice!) and has a curved cutting edge.
As Crusader puts it this is 'Mark I' of the Axe heads, next on my list 'Mark II' and where's that gold coin?
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,131686.0.html
Dad got the Mark II in 2007 which was one of the hightlights of the year. This type was a common grave good & we got a geophysical survey of the field looking for the possible ring ditch - without success. So a bit of a mystery.
 

Absolutely a banner find !! I congradulate you ! Not much else too elaborate on it !! BANNER !
 

That's an awesome find, congrat's.
 

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