59 

 IMPLEMENTS OF THE BRONZE AGE 

 IN THE WHITBY MUSEUM. 



T. SHEPPARD M.Sc, F.G.S. 



Through the kindness of Mr. T. Woodhouse Parkinson, the 

 Curator of the Whitby Museum, I have had an opportunity of 

 examining the small but interesting collection of Bronze-Age 

 weapons under his charge. There are twelve in all, though 

 two are forgeries, two are evidently of Irish origin, and some 

 are imperfect. Respecting most of them there is no informa- 

 tion as to locality, though they were probably chiefly found 

 in the Whitby neighbourhood. 



Fig. I is a small bronze spear head of plain type, one portion 

 of the socket of which is torn away. Its total length is 4^" ; 

 it is i' broad, and when complete would be i' across at the 

 socket. The socket extends almost to the point, and buried 

 in the apex is still apparently a part of the original wood shaft. 

 There is a small circular hole for a rivet about J" from the 

 bottom. The spear weighs 2 oz. It is very similar in type 

 to Fig. 25 on Plate V,, from Swine, figured in The Naturalist 

 for May, 1917. 



No. 2 is a spear head, much more massive, and longer, 

 though of the same general type as No. i. The sharp edges 

 are unequal, and there is a distinct well-made groove on the 

 blade at each side of the ridge. The spear is yY in length, 

 if across the blade, |" across the socket, and a circular hole 

 for a rivet occurs at a distance of an inch from the bottom. 

 The socket for the shaft extends well on towards the point. 

 The implement weighs 7 oz. 



No. 3 : the remains of a remarkably fine spear head, which 

 has been cast hollow, and is broken away, exposing the socket 

 on one side. The shaft and point are missing ; what remains 

 measures 7|'xi^". Like No. 2, it has a pronounced groove 

 on each side of the central ridge, and originally the blade was 

 wider, but the cutting edge has been broken. When complete 

 the spear-head was no doubt twice its present length, and would 

 probably resemble the specimen from Heathery Burn Cave, 

 Fig. 381 in Evans' ' Ancient Bronze Implements of Great 

 Britain.' Weight, 5 oz. 



No. 4 is a fragment of a Bronze-Age sword, the point and 

 handle being missing. It is of the familiar type, with a very 

 fine edge, accentuated by a depression ^' in width, which occurs 

 on each side of the blade. This example measures S'xil', 

 and weighs 7J oz. 



No. 5. The remains of a rare type of Bronze-Age implement, 

 namely, a socketed dagger, an example of which, from North 

 Lincolnshire, was figured in The Naturalist for September, 

 1917, on page 282. In the Whitby example, however, the 



UI8 Feb. 1. 



