ANCIENT BRONZE AGE DECORATED AXE ON STAND

2000-1000 BC, Bronze Age. Bronze axe with short, vertical blade to the front and spike at the rear. The circular seocket extends downwards and bears five raised decorative hoops and further curvillinear decoration flanks the top part of the socket. Bronze weaponry production flourished in Europe from the 3000 BC – 1200 BC, when it was gradually replaced by iron over the following 500 years. Swords, spears, and arrows were important symbols of war in Bronze Age societies and served as powerful reminders that authority rested in the hands of those who could earn it. Superb condition; on custom-made stand. Size: H:135mm/L:145mm/H:75mm (without stand); 623g. Provenance: From the private collection of an Essex gentleman; previously in an old British Collection, formed before 2000.