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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.60.21
Title
Palstave
Other Titles
Former Title: Small Axe
Classification
Weapons and Ammunition
Work Type
axe
Date
2nd millennium BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Bronze Age
Culture
European
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/148243

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.8 x 2.4 x 8.8 cm (1 1/2 x 15/16 x 3 7/16 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is a dark blackish green that has been popped off near the edge of the blade and was also scraped down, exposing an oxidized brown metal surface. The surface has a variety of striated scratches and what appear to be chatter marks. It appears to have been scraped in a haphazard fashion, some of it clearly part of cleaning after excavation.

The axe was cast in one piece in a multipiece mold, as indicated by the slight undercutting of the recessed slots on either side of the winged section of the object. The uneven, raised remains of seam lines were summarily removed from the long thin sides of the axe head. The butt of the axe head is slanted, but it is not clear whether this was intentional or the result of corrosion or wear. The slightly curved and flanged blade edge is notched at the center with dents must have been created by forceful blows, since they distorted the metal.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2012)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
W. C. Burriss Young, Cambridge, MA, bequest; to the Harvard University Art Museums, 2002.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of W.C. Burriss Young
Accession Year
2002
Object Number
2002.60.21
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The blade of this palstave has a slight flare on the ends. It has a wide, short midrib on each face terminating at the stop. The attachment section is recessed on both faces. There is a wide, raised line on each of the exterior wings.

A palstave as a cutting tool would have been attached perpendicularly to a wooden handle; the shafts of wood would have fitted into the attachment section up to the stop and secured with some type of rope (1). Axe heads of this type can be found throughout western Europe (2).

NOTES:

1. See the reconstruction in K. Kibbert, Die Äxte und Beile im mittleren Westdeutschland 2, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.13 (Munich, 1984) pl. 42.552.a-b.

2. Compare, for example, id., Die Äxte und Beile im mittleren Westdeutschland 1, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.10 (Munich, 1980) 204, nos. 484-87, pls. 32-33; and F. Laux, Die Äxte und Beile in Niedersachsen 1 (Flach-, Randleisten- und Absatzbeile), Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.23 (Stuttgart, 2000) 107, no. 468, pl. 32.


Lisa M. Anderson

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu