Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Arsenical Copper:
Cu, 66.79; Sn, less than 0.25; Pb, 30.28; Zn, 0.003; Fe, 0.14; Ni, 0.02; Ag, 0.03; Sb, 0.05; As, 2.69; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, less than 0.01; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer
Technical Observations: The solid blade was cast in one piece. The very crisp edges and simplification of the forms suggests that, rather than having been made by the lost-wax process, it could have been cast in a piece-mold made up of three to five pieces that defined the main front and back of the blade and an oval-sectioned cylindrical piece that defined the socket for the shaft. The socket section could have been made in two halves, each of which could have extended perpendicularly to create the flat edges of the blade. It is not clear whether the six facets that run across the back of the axe head were defined in the mold or created in the metal. The topography of the blade on each side of the axe is not identical; accretions obscure the surface and any finer evidence of tool marks. The wall thickness where the handle would have been inserted is c. 2.2 to 2.5 mm.
Overall, the object is in good condition. Some loss at the edges of the axe blade due to mineralization have occurred, some of which have been covered up with a waxy or resinous coating. A few long, intentional scrape marks on one side of the axe blade expose a green corrosion layer above a cupritic layer and probably result from an attempt to clean the piece. Mottled tan and pink burial accretions have been darkened to a light brown by a waxy or resinous coating in some areas and cover light green corrosion products.
Tracy Richardson and Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 1999, updated 2012)
