English: An incomplete cast copper alloy dagger of the Early Bronze Age (c. 1700-c. 1500 BC).

The dagger is a Camerton-Snowshill type.

In plan, it has an ogival-shaped outline and a central mid-rib on both faces. In cross-section it is lozenge-shaped. Three parallel grooves either side of the rib follow the ogival outline. The blade was attached to the hilt by means of three large rivets. These are missing and the rivet holes are incomplete due to breaks or possibly corrosion. The base of the hilt was characteristically omega-shaped. Evidence for this can be seen on one face due to the differential corrosion. It is evident that the base of the hilt protected the surface from corrosive elements to some extent as the surface is better preserved in this area where the hilt was situated. Just below the position of the hilt base there is a dark horizontal band of staining or differential corrosion which may represent the position of the scabbard mouth.

This dagger is in poor condition. It is severely corroded and has numerous corrosive scabs and is also pitted overall. Recent chips are visible along both edges of the blade. The break near the blade point is old.

The mid-rib of these types of daggers is often decorated with a dotted or pointillé pattern. No pattern is visible on this example. However, such a pattern may have existed prior to the surfaces becoming corroded.

118.7 x 52.7 x 6.9mm. Weight: 121.18g.

Similar examples are known from graves and hoards, including those from the Arreton Down hoard; Collingwood Ducis: barrow G4; Chippenham: barrow 1; Snowshill: barrow G.5; the Stanton Harcourt burial; Wilsford: barrow G.56 and the Ebnal hoard (Gerloff 1975: plates 15-19).

Gerloff, S, 1975, The Early Bronze Age Daggers in Great Britain and a Reconsideration of the Wessex Culture (C.H.Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München).