—— Fig. 64.—Weymouth. ½ ————— Fig. 65.—Burwell Fen. ½
In a specimen found at Winwick,[279] Lancashire, the blade below the stop-ridge appears to be nearly flat. A broad flat ring of bronze, 1¾ inch in diameter (Fig. 188), was found at the same time. It has been thought that this was attached to the shaft to prevent its splitting. A palstave much like that from Winwick was found at Chagford, Devon, and is in the possession of Mr. G. W. Ormerod, F.G.S. Another (6½ inches), from Ashford, Kent, is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool. Another of these plain palstaves, found near Llanidan,[280] Anglesea, with one of the looped kind somewhat like Fig. 76, is engraved in the Archæologia Cambrensis.
I have a palstave of nearly the same form, but with a more clearly defined semi-conical bracket below the stop, which was found at Masseyck, on the frontiers of Belgium and Holland.
A short and thick form of palstave is shown in Fig. 65, engraved from a specimen found in Burwell Fen, Cambridge. On one of its faces it has the semi-elliptical ornament, with one vertical rib in it, below the stop-ridge. On the other there are five ribs instead of one within the ornament.
I have another from Bottisham Fen (4⅜ inches), not quite so heavy in its make, and perfectly flat below the stop-ridge. The ends of the recess for the handle are somewhat undercut, so as to keep the wood close to the blade when a blow was struck.
The shortened proportions of these instruments are probably due to wear. In this instance it is not improbable that the cutting end of the original palstave has been broken off, and the blunt end that was left has been again drawn to an edge by hammering.
—— Fig. 66.—East Harnham. ½ ———— Fig. 67.—Burwell Fen. ½
A form of palstave without any ornament below the stop-ridge is shown in Fig. 66. This specimen was found in 1846 at East Harnham, near Salisbury, and is now in my own collection. The thickness of the blade below the stop is nearly ½ inch, above it but little more than ⅛ inch. The sides are remarkably flat.
One, only 2½ inches long, merely recessed for the handle, found at Chatham Hill, Kent, is in the Mayer Collection at Liverpool.