391 



BRONZE AGE WEAPONS IN THE SCARBOROUGH 



MUSEUM. 



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



Plates II. and III. 



At the request of the Scarborough Philosophical Society, I 

 have pleasure in describing the interesting and fairly repre- 

 sentative series of weapons of the Bronze Age in the Society's 

 possession. The Scarborough district has produced typical 

 examples of various forms of Bronze Age weapons, and in 

 recent years (see The Naturalist, May 1917, September 1917, 

 and September 1918,) quite a substantial hoard of bronze 

 axes has been discovered on the cliffs near the town. While 

 the Scarborough Museum possesses a couple of socketed axes 

 from this recent find, it is more than possible that one 

 of the palstaves, if not indeed more examples, were originally 

 part of this hoard, as, of course, the wasting of the cliff has 

 always been gradually going on. Most of this hoard (twenty- 

 four pieces) is in the Hull Museum. 



(i) The principal object in the Scarborough series is 

 a fine sword, which bears a label, ' found near Scarborough, 

 1864, purchased by the Society.' f 



The sword is a remarkably fine example, and much longer 

 than the usual type of Bronze Age swords found in E. Yorkshire. 

 It is slightly bent at the point, and the greater part of the 

 handle has been broken of! and lost. A very similar handle 

 to what would have existed when complete occurred in the 

 Scarborough hoard, and is shown as No. 15, on Plate III. 

 of The Naturalist for September 191 7. The weapon is ex- 

 ceptionally well made and beautifully designed, the remark- 

 ably sharp cutting edge being obtained by the part near the 

 edge being slightly drawn down so as to form a shallow fluting. 

 This cutting edge is |" wide all round, and, except for half 

 an inch on one side in the middle of the sword, is intact. 

 Near the handle the edge of the blade has been cut away, 

 forming two slight notches, the object being probably to 

 save the hand from being cut by the sword being drawn back 

 by the warrior, there being apparently no transverse guard 

 (see Evans, " Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain," 

 page 278). In general shape and appearance this Scarborough 

 sword resembles the example from Newcastle (Evans, torn cit, 



* For a description of the Bronze Implements in the Doncaster Museum, 

 see The Naturalist for July, 1918, pp. 219-223 ; those in the Whitby 

 Museum, see The Naturalist for Febiuary, 1918, fp. 59-61. Descriptions 

 of other Museum collections are in preparation. 



I I can find no reference to the purchase of this sword in any of the 

 Society's Reports. 



19-21 Dec I. 



