A rare socketed sickle of British manufacture, dated to the Atlantic Late Bronze Age, has been found at the Suret site in France. It is made of copper alloy, complete except for a broken tip, and shows signs of use with chipped edges. The socket features a hanging ring and attachment holes for a wooden handle, with one peg made of bone still inside. Only around ten such sickles are known in France, highlighting extensive trade networks in the region during this period, particularly in bronze metalwork exchanges.
The sickle is made of copper alloy and is complete, although the tip is broken off but still present. The edges of the curved blade are chipped from use.
This type of socketed sickle is rare in France; only around ten examples have been recorded, concentrated on the Channel coast and the Atlantic coast.
The archaeological record points to a major shift in metalwork exchanges from 1200 B.C. onward, increasing in quantity and frequency to become a nascent mercantile trade.
Traces of the handle have survived inside the socket. The type of wood could not be conclusively identified, but testing narrowed down the possibilities to several types.
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