File:Bronze Age Palstave (FindID 160678).jpg

English: An incomplete cast copper alloy palstave of Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC - c. 1150 BC). Length 65.0mm, width 23.2mm and 20.2mm thick. Weight 99.41g. The surviving portion comprises the butt end of the implement. The whole of the blade, the stop (if it possessed one) and part of both flanges are missing due to an old break. The sides of the surviving portion are parallel and the butt has a straight end. At the break the septum has a maximum thickness of 6.5mm and tapers evenly in thickness towards the butt. Both faces of the septum are distinctively concave. Viewed from the side the flanges are sub-triangular in plan, being pointed at the top and widening towards the break. The flange tops are damaged and abraded. The surfaces are blistered with copper alloy corrosion products. However, the relatively crisp break is not blistered and is not abraded, perhaps indicating that the break, although not very recent, may not be of great age. Across the break there are two gas bubble cavities. There is no sign of any casting flash or sprue scars. A brief description of the development of palstaves and axes of the Bronze Age period is given in Savory, H. N. 1980, pages 43-49.