News / archeology
Bronze Age dagger dug up by metal detectorist
An “incredibly rare” 3000 year old bronze age dagger has been discovered near Bristol, by a man with a metal detector.
Mark Hudson, from Stockwood, was searching a field near Keynsham when he made the discovery. “I was only searching for 10 minutes in the field,” he said. “At first I thought it was an old pen knife.”
“I spoke to someone in Norfolk who my uncle knows, I sent him a picture and he told me to get in touch with the museum.”
Curt Adams, is the Finds Liaison office for Gloucestershire and Avon, and was on hand when the dagger was brought into the Bristol City Art Gallery and Museum. Carefully pulling it out of a plastic shopping bag he said: “This is a star find…It is incredibly rare.
“We do get things brought into us from members of the public – various artefacts mainly coins, sometimes Roman coins, but something that dates to the Bronze Age which is 3000 years ago is very rare.”
According to Adams there is no doubt about the age of the dagger: “You can tell by it’s shape, the metal and the way that it has been manufactured as well – it is a very distinctive artefact.
“Bronze age tools are very rare, so this is quite a significant find,” he added. The discovery can tell historians and archaeologists a lot about the area it was found: “It shows us there was possibly even a settlement there,” added Adams. “If we record all the artefacts found in the area it will show us where and how people were living, trade networks and things like that.”
Hudson said he was amazed at his luck: “I’ve only been using a metal detector for two months…I’m in shock really, especially when I heard how old it could be.”
He may well be having the last laugh on his family as well who “took the mickey” out of his find. “They thought it was a rusty knife or some sort of garden tool as well and laughed at it.”
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