File:Bronze Age, Basal Looped Spear (FindID 441776).jpg

English: Cast bronze (copper alloy) basal-looped socketed spear (spearhead) of Middle Bronze Age date (1500 - 1150 BC). The spearhead is best sub-classified as Davis (2006) Type 3: Flame. The spearhead is heavily abraded and also corroded; it is broadly sub-triangular in plan and profile with an incomplete and abraded sub-oval / leaf or flame shaped blade. The tip of the spearhead is lost being abraded to the tip of the central mid-rib; the side blades are also much abraded, loosing most of their shape and also their cutting edges. The surviving width of the blade is 23.2mm; it is 14.1mm thick at this point. The centre of the blade is divided by a tapering (tip to base) lozenge shaped midrib. This midrib expands into the socket of the spear. The socket is best described as being conical in shape, the lower edge of which is heavily damaged with a large portion removed by a modern break. The socket at the broken edge has an external diameter of 15.7mm and thickness of 1.7mm. The socket is conical and tapers evenly inside the mid rib, it is possible that at the tip of the socket is the remnants of a very small piece of corrosion impregnated wood. Conjoined at the base of the blade are two oval shaped loops. These loops have an lozenge shaped profile, with one being squashed out of alignment by either the finishing process (after Davis 2006: 34) or from movement in the soil. The internal diameter of the loop measures 7.8mm x 2.9mm. The loops suggest that the base of the spear blade was relatively narrow blade. The loops would have originally been used to help attach and secure the spearhead to the wooden shaft. They also may have been used as suspension loops for some form of tassel or decoration. The blades and also socket are marked with vertical scratches which could be interpreted as some form of crude decoration or deliberate marking. These scratches are mostly patinated and cannot be explained by movement in the soil. The casting seams on either edge of the spear have trimmed and hammered flat.

The spearhead measures 123.9mm length, has a maximum width (across base the blade) 23.2mm and maximum thickness of 15.7mm (across the base of the socket). The depth of the socket is 67.1mm. The spearhead weighs 55.53 grams.

The spearhead is a mid-brown green colour with an uneven much corroded patina. The patina has been abraded in several areas and there are several areas with an unstable surface. Some of these unstable surfaces have been caused by corrosion, which has caused the metal to laminate slightly. A small pit / hole is present on the mid-rib which cuts into the socket, the area around this hole is very fragile.

Similar basal-looped spearheads have been classified by Richard Davis (2006) and dated to the Middle Bronze Age. Davis has sub-classified these into classes / Types. This example corresponds best with his Type 3: Flame however as it is incomplete it also has attributes which could be classed as Type 2: Leaf. Flame Type basal looped spearheads are the most common sub-type and the findspot fits outside (although near the very edge) of Davis' Severn Estuary distribution pattern (33-34). He dates these by association and limited radiocarbon dates to the final phases of Acton Park (2), and Taunton (Cemmaes) metalworking traditions (49-50). These phases correspond with Needham's Period 5 (c. 1500 - 1150 BC) and make them contemporary with the more common side (string looped) spearheads Ehrenburgs Class IV. This form of the basal looped spearhead within Herefordshire is unusual but not entirely unexpected