They arrived in a Flahavan's porridge box, their gnarled edges tightly wedged into rudimentary, makeshift foam packaging, shaky pen marks still visible from where the sender had outlined their shape: two paddle-shaped copper ax heads, their hand-carved edges long since dulled by time 4,000 years' worth.
The Bronze Age ax heads are a significant discovery, Mr. Seaver said. But its hard to say much else without the details. You're talking about two early Bronze Age copper ax heads, possibly even older than 2300 B.C., Mr. Seaver said.
The package was sent anonymously, accompanied by a letter that explained the finder hoped the artifacts could be preserved in the museum. It explained they had been found with a metal detector in County Westmeath, the geographic heart of the island and site of the kingdom of Meath.
Unlike some other parts of Europe and the United Kingdom, Ireland forbids the independent search or excavation of antiquities, especially via metal detector. Most countries allow the use of the machines recreationally on public land or with the permission of private owners.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]