ostracon ancient art
catalogue

Winged Palstave Axe Head, Late Bronze Age, 1100-800 BC

Slender bronze axe head with rounded cutting edge and eyelet on the narrow side.

The upper lobes bent inwards to better fit the forked shaft, which was fixed with twine or rawhide. Hook-like projections on the neck.

Palstave is the typical axe form of the Middle Bronze Age, 1500-1275 BC. Late palstave types tend to have narrower blades, as in our case.

For the type, cf. fig. 4.4.3, p. 83 in: Ulrike Weller. Äxte und Beile. Berlin 2018. The range of the type includes Central Europe, with the present item said to be from France.

Intact, fine and rare. Deep brown bronze with patches of green patina. Remains of the casting seam on the side faces.

L. 15 cm (5.9 in)

Private collection of the Swiss diplomat G. Thullen, Geneva.

850 USD