Description

Summary: 1 bronze dagger with narrow pointed blade and two rivets, decorated with pointillé dots and three grooves either side, found with primary cremation in Bowl Barrow Upton Lovell G2, excavated by William Cunnington.

Research results

A Bronze Age copper alloy dagger blade excavated in association with a primary cremation at the Upton Lovell G2 bowl barrow by William Cunnington. The dagger would have originally been rivetted to its hilt at the butt of the blade; it is decorated with pointillé decoration along the central arris (small punched dots) which is flanked by two triple-stranded grooves which converge towards the point. It has a thick, lozengiform cross section. Based on it's form the dagger can be classified as fitting into series 5D, the dominant dagger form in the period c. 1750-1500 BC. Many such daggers show ancient damage at the point at which they were riveted to the hilt, suggesting they may have been separated before burial.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.