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Little Thetford flesh-hook

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Little Thetford flesh hook
MaterialBronze
SizeHooked part length:12 in (30 cm) weight:9 oz (255 g)
Butt end length:6 in (15 cm) weight:4 oz (113 g)
Createdlate Bronze Age
(1150 – 950 BC)[1]
Discovered1929, Little Thetford
Present locationBritish Museum
IdentificationCHER 06956
Bronze Age
↑ Chalcolithic
Africa, Near East (c. 3300–1200 BC)
Egypt, Anatolia, Caucasus, Elam, Levant, Mesopotamia, Sistan, Canaan Late Bronze Age collapse
East Asia (c. 3100–300 BC)
Erlitou, Erligang, Gojoseon, Jomon, Majiayao, Mumun, Qijia, Siwa, Wucheng, Xindian, Yueshi, Xia dynasty, Shang dynasty, Sanxingdui, Zhou dynasty
Eurasia and Siberia (c. 2700–700 BC)
Poltavka culture, Abashevo culture, Sintashta culture, Andronovo culture, Mezhovskaya culture, Cherkaskul culture
Europe (c. 3200–900 BC)
Aegean (Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean), Caucasus, Catacomb culture, Srubnaya culture, Bell Beaker culture, Apennine culture, Terramare culture, Únětice culture, Tumulus culture, Urnfield culture, Proto-Villanovan culture, Hallstatt culture, Canegrate culture, Golasecca culture, Argaric culture, Atlantic Bronze Age, Bronze Age Britain, Nordic Bronze Age
Indian subcontinent (c. 3300–1200 BC)
Indus Valley Civilisation, Bronze Age India, Ochre Coloured Pottery, Cemetery H
Topics
Arsenical bronze, writing, literature, Sword, Chariot
↓ Iron Age

The Little Thetford flesh-hook is a late Bronze-Age (1150 – 950 BC) artefact discovered in 1929 in Little Thetford, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. A flesh-hook is a metal hook with a long handle used to pull meat out of a pot or hides out of tan-pits. This particular find is one of 32 other such archaeologically significant finds, scatters, and excavations within 1 square mile (2.6 km2) of Little Thetford.

Discovery

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The artefact was found by a Mr Dresser, whilst digging a ditch on reclaimed fenland, at Little Thetford in 1929. Discovered about 9 feet (2.7 m) down, it consisted of two-parts, connected by the remains of a wooden shaft. The wood remains have not survived; a contemporary wooden shaft has been added by the British Museum for display purposes. The artefact is in the British Museum though is not, as of 2012, on display.[2] Within 1 square mile (2.6 km2) of Little Thetford, there have been 33 finds of various kinds over the years,[3] such as flints[4] from the Neolithic era through to a windmill[5] of the late Medieval period.

Uses

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The word flesh-hook is relatively modern. The OED gives the origin of the word as 1325 AD, and defines it as a metal hook with a long stail,[6] used to pull hides out of tan-pits or as a hook for pulling meat from the pot.[7] It may also have been used as a tool to prod animals.[8] The use of this flesh-hook in the Bronze Age can only be speculated.

Construction

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The metal used in the construction is a bronze alloy, found to be typical of the late Bronze Age. The material was analysed using ICP – AES and contained (approximately) 85% copper, 10% tin, 3% lead, and 2% impurities; although the constituents of the individual parts varied around these figures.[9] From an analysis of 36 other Bronze-Age flesh-hooks known to be in existence,[10] the assembled length of hook-part, butt-end, and missing wood part is speculated to be 2.5 feet (0.76 m).[9]

The artefact was manufactured by casting, using a mould in a lost-wax (cire perdue) process.[9]

Dating

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See also: Prehistory

The British Museum dates the artefact within the Bronze Age 1150 – 950 BC.[1] The Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record database dates the artefact as late Bronze Age 1000–701 BC.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "flesh-hook". The British Museum. 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b Bowman, S. "Late Bronze Age flesh hook, Little Thetford". Cambridgeshire HER. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Heritage Gateway home". Cambridgeshire HER. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  4. ^ Ely Museum (1984). "Neolithic polished flint axe, Little Thetford". Cambridgeshire HER. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  5. ^ Hughes, H C. "Late Medieval windmill". Cambridgeshire HER. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  6. ^ A handle, esp. a long slender handle, as the handle of a rake, etc. "Oxford English Dictionary: 'Stail'". Oxford University Press. 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  7. ^ "Oxford English Dictionary: 'flesh-hook". Oxford University Press. 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  8. ^ "A guide to the Antinquities of London: Bronze flesh-hook". The British Museum. 1920. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Bowman, S (2007). "The Dunaverney and Little Thetford flesh-hooks: history, technology and their position within the later Bronze Age atlantic zone feasting complex". The Antiquaries Journal. 87. Society of Antiquaries of London: 53–108. doi:10.1017/S0003581500000846. Archived from the original on 24 August 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  10. ^ Needham, Stuart; Sheridan Bowman (2005). "Flesh-Hooks, Technological Complexity and the Atlantic Bronze Age Feasting Complex". European Journal of Archaeology. 8 (2): 93–136. doi:10.1177/1461957105066936. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
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This article is about an item held in the British Museum. The object reference is 1929,0415.1.

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