Descriptions

A double-looped palstave is a type of Bronze Age axe. This one is very unusual as it was found by archaeologists excavating the remains of a medieval house near Ottery St Mary. The palstave may have been collected as a curio or charm, although the large group of strips and sheet fragments also present suggest that the repair or manufacture of metal vessels may have been practised as a domestic craft, and so the palstave may have been for use as a tool or as scrap.

The palstave is of double-looped form, a feature previously thought to indicate Iberian origin, but which is now considered an uncommon, but wholly native trait. A few other double-looped palstaves are known from the south-west and they probably date to between 1400–1100 BC.

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