Getting to the point: A copper alloy barbed-and-tanged arrowhead from Northampton

An example of a barbed-and-tanged arrowhead was recently discovered by CA’s Milton Keynes field team, at a site to the west of Northampton. Probably cast in either a two-piece or open mould, our arrowhead is mostly complete. The tang is slightly tapered, while the notches and accompanying barbs are rounded — its sides converging to form a sharp point.

Features at the site included two pit alignments, enclosures, boundary ditches, pits and a limekiln. Through post-excavation analysis we have found that most features were Middle to Late Iron Age (c. 400 BC – AD 43). The copper arrowhead was found in the topsoil using a metal detector and so was not directly associated with the main phase of activity. However, it was located very close to one of the Late Iron Age enclosures.

How it came to be present on our site is a mystery; it may be a stray loss, perhaps originating from a hunting expedition. Alternatively, it may have been deposited a long time after it was made in the Bronze Age, perhaps being curated by the site’s Iron Age occupants. The continued circulation of Bronze Age metalwork into the Iron Age and even Roman periods is a documented phenomenon, though admittedly not enormously common. ‘Antique’ objects may have been seen in these later eras as curiosities, or perhaps held some special significance to them.

The use of bow-and-arrow technology probably emerged in Britain during the Mesolithic era – c. 10,000–4000 BC, although it was first evidenced in Europe occurs somewhere around 11,000 BC. During the Mesolithic period, microlithic technology was used to make flint arrowheads of composite construction, with separate tips and barbs attached to wooden shafts. Bows and arrows were in widespread use by the Neolithic period (c.4000BC–2400 BC), as the large number of flint arrowheads of various shapes and styles indicates.

By the Early Bronze Age (c. 2400–1500 BC) arrowhead technology developed further with the emergence of barbed-and-tanged examples. While some are solidly made and clearly functional, others are extremely delicate and appear to have been manufactured solely for deposition. Interestingly, it seems that these intricate arrowheads ceased to be made after c. 1500 BC. This coincides with a general decline in the quality of flint-working from the Middle Bronze Age onwards, possibly occurring due to both the greater accessibility of metals and an increase in the production of metal objects.

Evidence for bows and arrows after this date becomes quite scarce, for reasons that are unclear. However, an exception to this comprises a relatively small number of barbed-and-tanged copper alloy arrowheads which are thought to date to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500-1100 BC). These objects are extremely rare, with most recovered Unstratified (i.e. from topsoil) as with the example from our Northamptonshire site.

Because of their rarity in Britain, some prehistorians initially dismissed these finds as continental European objects brought back as souvenirs by antiquarians and subsequently lost. However, a more-recent re-appraisal of these items has suggested otherwise. A key piece of evidence within this has been the recognition of a relatively obscure example recovered in a hoard from Penard, West Glamorgan, Wales – which was found in 1827. Based on its contents, the suggested deposition date is c. 1275-1140 BC – or the transition between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Further examples have emerged due to metal detecting and recording of finds via the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). These point to more widespread British use than was previously thought, as well as hinting at local production. Approximately 30 examples have been recorded from England as of 2023, with just under half of these being found in East Anglia. Other smaller concentrations are recorded in Lincolnshire and Wiltshire, with a few scattered examples known from elsewhere in central and southern England.

A point of current debate regarding these fascinating objects concerns their date. They are extremely similar in overall form to the Early Bronze Age flint barbed-and-tanged arrowheads. Given that the Penard hoard was buried several centuries after flint arrowheads are thought to have fallen out of use, this raises some interesting questions. Were the producers of the metal arrowheads directly copying an older object type in a new, different material? Or have we got it entirely wrong and are the metal arrowheads in fact Early Bronze Age, therefore contemporary with the flint barbed-and-tanged pieces? If so, the Penard find potentially represents an older, curated object that was deposited later. Only the discovery of further metal examples from secure archaeological contexts will give us the answer to this tantalising question…

Hear more about this find and the site it was found on in this webinar hosted by Alexander and Grace.

This work has been done on behalf of Bloor Homes in consultation with Quercus Heritage Limited.