Description

Summary: A hoard of Llyn Fawr and earlier metalwork, comprising of spearheads and a single blade fragment, found in the spoil of the river diversion, dug during the construction of the Melksham By-pass, Melksham.

Research results

In 1972 was presented with this collection of prehistoric weapons, which had been discovered during the diversion of the river Avon to accomodate the Melksham by-pass. The latest objects in the group belong to the Llyn Fawr metal working phase and date to the earliest Iron Age, although the group contains copper alloy spearheads which are slightly earlier and a dirk blade that may even date to the middle bronze age. The hoard was probably deposited in boggy ground beside the river Avon, and may represent an accumulation of material contianing objects which were already old at the time of depositon. This group is probably related to a group of 3 horse harness fittings, called phalerae and dated to the same period, which were found in the same area and presented to the museum approximately ten years later.

The Melksham hoard has been photographed by Boughton (2019), who notes that it is one of only two Llyn Fawr hoards known in the country to not contain a socketed axehead.