Bronze Age tools found in 'Baschurch Hoard' were likely placed as gifts to the land
Fascinating details about bronze age tools found in Shropshire have been revealed, showing how they would have been used to create homes and even canoes.
The two axes and a gouging tool, discovered on land near Baschurch during an organised metal detecting event, were declared treasure earlier this month by John Ellery, Senior Coroner for Shropshire, Telford and the Wrekin, at an inquest in Shrewsbury.
Now named the Baschurch Hoard, the tools had been deliberately placed in the ground - probably as gifts to the land, experts say.
Peter Reavill, finds liaison officer for Shropshire and Herefordshire, said the three tools all found together were thought to have been deposited between 950BC and 750 BC.
"All are made of copper alloy - bronze - and each is in remarkable condition for their age," he said.
"The composition of the group is interesting; the smaller of the two axes is of a local form that is relatively common in the Northern Marches with a similar axe being found at the excavations at the Breidden Hillfort, over the border in Montgomeryshire, that example was radiocarbon dated to 900BC.
"The larger elegant and slender axe is however highly unusual with few examples known. Its size and shape suggest that it was a specialised tool, a woodworking carpentry axe.
"The final element is a bronze gouge – this seems to have been deliberately broken into two parts prior to deposition with the finder noting that they were recovered placed side by side rather than connecting."
“Small groups of metalwork such as these are hugely important to our understanding of prehistoric Shropshire.
" In general, they are far more common in the north of the county where they are associated often with deliberate deposition in or around wetlands, streams and the meres. Such small group of tools as these may seem insignificant to some but they represent a store of wealth as well as essential tools.
"They would have been used for specific tasks such as making dugout canoes and planked log boats, as well as building houses and creating household furniture. They were deliberate gifts to the land, placed in areas of danger or risk for reasons we may not ever really understand. We do know that by breaking them and placing them out of use within the ground our farming predecessors were following long held traditions important to their way of life.”
Shropshire Museums has expressed an interest in acquiring these finds with the hope of displaying them in Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.
Emma-Kate Lanyon, curator, said: “The discovery of this hoard comes at an exciting time when we are working on a new Bronze Age exhibition for Shrewsbury Museum: 'Gathering Light'.
"This will explore the discovery of the Shropshire Sun Pendant and the North Shropshire Bronze Age Hoards. These finds are revealing a fascinating story about the significance of the North Shropshire wetlands during this period of Prehistory.”
