Oxborough Dirk

The Oxborough dirk at the British Museum

The Oxborough Dirk is an over-large ceremonial weapon from the Bronze Age, a dirk or dagger, but several times the normal size. It was found in 1988 protruding from a peat bog near Oxborough, Norfolk, where it had been deposited point down. It is one of only five large dirks known in north-west Europe, though excessively large versions of other types of objects are also known. The five are so similar that they may have been made in the same workshop, in which case this one could have been imported to Britain. It dates to 1450-1300 BC and measures 70.9 centimetres (27.9 in) long with a mass of 2.37 kilograms (5.2 lb), making it "ridiculously large and unwieldy" and clearly never intended for practical use, which the lack of holes for fitting to a handle also shows. It was probably either a votive offering or a store of value in some other way. It is currently on display in Room 50 at the British Museum.^[1][2]

Notes

1. ^ "British Museum - Ceremonial bronze dirk". britishmuseum.org. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/c/ceremonial_bronze_dirk.aspx. Retrieved 4 June 2010. 
2. ^ S. Needham, 'Middle Bronze Age ceremonial weapons: new finds from Oxborough, Norfolk, and Essex/Kent', The Antiquaries Journal-5, 70 (1990), pp. 239-52.