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Prepared for Dr. Bettina Fischer-Genz History of Art and Architecture 21 December 2012 Late Bronze Age Socketed Axe Throughout the different phases of the Bronze Age, the technological advancement of European civilization was evident in the evolution of the tools used by these communities. A common form throughout Europe, the axe head inspires much speculation concerning evolving trends within the region. This paper will examine a socketed and looped bronze axe found in Northern Romania typical of the late Bronze Age period in Europe (1000 800 B.C.E.). The axe measures approximately 114 mm high from its eye-shaped mouth forming the bottom part of the axe to the blade forming the head of the axe and weighs 368 grams. The axe is covered with a green patina and wearmarks mainly around the facets of the axe. The surface of the top third of the axe close to the mouth is rough and grainy while the rest of the axes surface has a smooth finish. The axes wide-eye-shaped mouth measures 46 mm by 38 mm wide. The socket within the mouth of the axe measures 26 by 20 mm resembling the form of a square with very rounded edges and is 62 mm deep ending around halfway along the height of the axe. The internal surface of the socket covered with green patina is rough and blotched with patches of a rusted iron color. A rim is formed around the mouth of the axe. The concave sides of the axe arch slightly along the middle of the axe where it measures a width of 38 mm and then diverge towards the corners of the blade to reach a width of 48 mm,

Jaber 2 representing the width of the blunt edge itself. This variation in width gives the axe a graceful concave form with sides tapering in from the mouth halfway towards the waist of the axe and diverging to form the edges of the blade. Viewed laterally with axe standing on its mouth, the two faces of the axe converge from the 38 mm wide mouth to form the blade of 1 mm thickness. The entire view resembles that of a very high and steeped roof whose flat sloping sides converge to form a ridge, or the convex edge of the axe in this case. On one lateral side of the axe a looped handle extends from the corner of the eye-shaped mouth of the axe connecting down along the same side of the axe, very closely resembling the form of an ear with an attached lobe. The handle is barely large enough to hold securely with the thumb and index finger while the hole is the size of an average nostril. On either face of the axe, two concave arcs extend from right beneath the ridge of the mouth about index finger-width apart, each one representing a mirror reflection of the other along the longitudinal central axis of the artefact. The arcs extend downwards diverging away from each other and flare subtly at their extremities that form the corners of the blade. Together, the concaving arcs connected to the convex blade at its extremities form an embossed image on either side resembling the silhouette of a trumpet horn or trumpet flower. The lateral edges of the axe are also styled in raised moulding of the bronze closely resembling the shape of a very narrow and long fountain pen nib extending along the height of the axe with the tip of the nib forming the corner of the blade. On one lateral side of the axe, the base of this nib connects directly to the lobe of the looped handle forming one single shape with it.

Jaber 3 Together, the raised images leave as negative space two identical mirror images on each side of the axe, each shape resembling a long saber tooth whose tips end two-thirds down the axe pointing in the direction of the blade. Each shape is outlined by three sides: part of the upper ridge, one of the two inner diverging convex arcs, and one of the sides of the raised forms on the lateral sides of the axe. The blunt edge of the axe is slightly dented in some parts and chipped on the corner along the side of the handle. This paper raises several questions concerning the bronze axe. How was it made considering the supposedly limited technological capacity of prehistoric cultures and civilizations? What are the possible uses of this axe, and what are the implications of finding it buried in a hoard or grave? Where did the form of the socketed axe originate from? Uses of the axe: While axes could have been used for everyday mundane uses, and, therefore, related to a basic level of activity it is also very likely that there was a need for more specialist craftsmanship in wood, hence the variation of size within each class (Eogan 1). It can be assumed that they were tools that would have been around every household, in the possession of every farmer for clearing woodlands, for shaping timbers and for various farming uses such as fencing. As already noted, axes would have beem used for cutting down large trees. As has been argued it is likely that axes would have formed part of the specialist tool-kit of the carpenter and this explain the great variation in their size, the smaller examples being reserved for fine work. It is significant that the axes and gouges are the predominant types in the specialist hoards. A number of axes display evidence of

Jaber 4 wear or damage to the edge, but it is impossible to state how much of this is ancient (Eogan 8). Origin of the socketed axe: Tool evolved in western Europe simplistic untenable view... (Eogan 2). The socketed celt was the creation of the smiths of east Russia and south-west Siberia, who took as a prototype the hoe-blade adze with folded socket, possibly ultimately of west Asiatic origin Find-Places: There is no positive evidence for deliberate deposition of individual axes, such as conscious placement in a pit, so perhaps they were simply lost or discarded. However, it does seem strange that thousands of useful objects, either as subsisting tools or as material for resmelting, were thrown aside or left unreclaimed by their owners in fields, bogs, or wet places, or lost due to carelessness (Eogan 9). Axes may have been lost in transit. Some could have been deliberately deposited for ritual purposes Some hoards could have beem the personal possessions of an individual craftsman stashed away when not in use and for reasons which cannot now be explained were never retrieved (Eogan 10). Socketed axes reflect not only the role and significance of wood-working in Later Bronze Age but also the abundance of metal. Socketed axes were a useful and popular tool that reflect the economic importance of wood-working and its extensive usage in the industrial, domestic, and ritual spheres. These axes would have been used to provide timbers for trackway and hurdle building as well as house and palisade construction and the troughts (Eogan, 15).

Jaber 5 With around 2200 examples, socketed axeheads constitute the largest group of Bronze Age metal artifacts in Ireland. The form had a life range of about 600 700 years (Eogan 16). 7th century was the time during which the use of the bronze socketed axehead came to an end. In the ensuing Iron Age forms took over as did the material from which they were manufactured. All of this was part of a typological and technological change that was a feature of the incoming Iron Age (Eogan 17). Votive deposits vs. temporary stores. (Bradley). Shortage of metal supply (Bradley).

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Bibliography Bradley, Richard. Hoarding, Recycling, and the Consumption of Prehistoric Metalwork: Technological Change in Western Europe. World Archaeology, 20.2 (1988) : 249 260. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. Eogan, George. The Socketed Bronze Axes in Ireland. Stuttgart : Steiner, 2000. Print. Roberts, and Ottoway. The Use and Significane of Socketed Axes During the Late Bronze Age. European Journal of Archaeology, 6.2 (2003) : 119 140. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.