River Tyne, bronze sword
River Tyne, bronze sword
HER Number
767
District
Newcastle
Site Name
River Tyne, bronze sword
Place
Newcastle
Map Sheet
NZ26SE
Class
Monument <By Form>
Site Type: Broad
Findspot
Site Type: Specific
Sword
General Period
PREHISTORIC
Specific Period
Bronze Age -2,600 to -700
Form of Evidence
Find
Description
Said to have been dredged from the Tyne below Newcastle, but exactly where and when is unclear. Presumed to have once been in the possession of the antiquarian, Canon Greenwell, since it is now in the British Museum as part of the Canon Greenwell Collection. The sword is 692 mm long, 31 mm max. width, with a blade 7 mm thick, i.e. a little shorter than HER no. 768, with which it has more than once been confused. There is a wide V-shaped cleft in the end of the pommel-piece, and the handle is pierced by 8 rivet-holes, 4 on the butt, 3+1 on the handle, the last being on the pommel-piece "below, and quite separate from the point of the cleft - a unique feature".
Easting
427400
Northing
563400
Grid Reference
NZ427400563400
Sources
<< HER 767 >> W. Greenwell, 1889, Ancient British Implements of Bronze, Etc.Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 2, III (for 1887-88), p. 309
W. Page, ed. 1905, Early Man, Victoria County History, Durham, I, pp. 206-07
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1907, 3, II (for 1905-06), opp. p. 226, no. 2
M.H. Dodds, ed. 1930, Prehistoric Period, Northumberland County History, XIII, p. 21 fig. 21 and p. 22
J.D. Cowen, 1967, The Hallstatt Sword of Bronze: on the Continent and in Britain,Proceedings Prehistoric Society, XXXIII, p. 445 no. 199, pl. LX.3
A.J. Challis & D.W. Harding, 1975, Later Prehistory from the Trent to the Tyne, British Archaeological Report, 20, pt. ii, p. 35 no. 4
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, pp. 43 and 45, fig. 13 no. 7
W. Page, ed. 1905, Early Man, Victoria County History, Durham, I, pp. 206-07
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, 1907, 3, II (for 1905-06), opp. p. 226, no. 2
M.H. Dodds, ed. 1930, Prehistoric Period, Northumberland County History, XIII, p. 21 fig. 21 and p. 22
J.D. Cowen, 1967, The Hallstatt Sword of Bronze: on the Continent and in Britain,Proceedings Prehistoric Society, XXXIII, p. 445 no. 199, pl. LX.3
A.J. Challis & D.W. Harding, 1975, Later Prehistory from the Trent to the Tyne, British Archaeological Report, 20, pt. ii, p. 35 no. 4
R. Miket, 1984, The Prehistory of Tyne and Wear, pp. 43 and 45, fig. 13 no. 7