Bronze Age Bent Rapier

Draft model of a British Bronze Age Rapier (Taunton type) bent into an elaborate figure-8 shape. Found in a hoard of bronze objects dating to the Middle Bronze Age (circa1400 – 1200BC) containing the elaborately bent rapier blade with one rivet, now detached, and a palstave axehead. Found at Henstridge, Somerset and recorded as part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme ([finds.org.uk)](https://finds.org.uk/). On display in [Room 2 ](https://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/galleries/themes/room_2_collecting_the_world.aspx) at the British Museum from October 2019 - January 2020. The bending of the rapier blade was a significant and violent act, requiring skilled control of force and knowledge of the properties of metal. At this time, metalwork was often deposited in natural places rather than in graves. This rapier may have been symbolically-‘killed’ as part of mourning practices connected to a person’s death.