Een bronzen hielbijl uit Emmen

A Bronze Age palstave found at Emmen. In 2019, a Bronze Age palstave was found in a field west of Emmen by a father-and-son team of metal detectorists. In agreement with the landowner, the find was reported to PAN. During the process of conservation, the opportunity presented itself to study the alloy using pXRF analysis. This suggested that the copper ores used in the bronze alloy ultimately derived from Swiss or Slovakian mines, but that the metal was cast locally into a form well-known in the sandy regions of the Low Countries. A review of the find in its topographical and cultural context indicated that it – like various other items in the Bronze Age – had been deposited in (the margin of) wetland parts of the landscape, not far from a contemporaneous settlement.