Description

Summary: 1 bronze dagger with 3 grooves either side and no ridge, found with a primary inhumation (in an elm trunk coffin) in bell barrow Winterbourne Stoke G5, excavated by William Cunnington.

Research results

A Bronze Age copper alloy dagger blade, found with the primary inhumation of Winterbourne Stoke G5 by William Cunnington in the early 1800s. This burial was placed within an elm coffin above which was encountered 'a large and heavy piece of fossil wood... resembling a bunch of twigs'. This was one of two similar daggers found within the grave, with one by the burial's thigh and another upon its chest, alongside an awl, and a five-handled vessel of continental type, which was placed by its head. Both daggers are of a type which dates to c. 1950-1700 BC, and are ultimately also continental in style.

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.