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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2002.60.25
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/141660

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Copper alloy
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
2.7 x 4.1 x 8.5 cm (1 1/16 x 1 5/8 x 3 3/8 in.)
Technical Details

Technical Observations: The patina is mostly brown; it is worn in a few areas to the bare metal, and only a few uneven pitted or raised areas of green corrosion accretions speckle the surface. The surface accretions appear to have been scraped off almost entirely, leaving scraper marks in the metal. The butt and the blade are in slightly better condition, although they are also somewhat dinged. The surface has probably been waxed. The object was cast.


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
2002.60.25
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 thin, low midrib extending from the blade edge to the stop. The attachment section is recessed on both faces. There is a 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) no. 524, pl. 35; and M.-B. Chardenoux and J.-C. Courtois, Les haches dans la France Méridionale, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 9.11 (Munich, 1979) no. 636, pl. 37.


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