Article2004

Britain's First Brass

Paul Craddock · Michael Cowell · Ian M. Stead

5 citations0/0 files storedThe Antiquaries Journal

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Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis

Abstract

Stamps on the blade of a sword from the Thames, originally considered to be Anglo-Saxon, now place the sword stylistically in the La Tène II period (late third to early second century BC). X-ray fluorescence tests have shown that the gold-coloured foil covering the stamps consists of 80 per cent copper and 20 per cent zinc, this being the formula for brass. The sword therefore represents the earliest known use of brass in Britain.

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References

2002Copper and Bronze in Art: Corrosion, Colorants, Conservation 1997Early Metal Mining and Production 1985Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine 2004Mining and metal production through the ages 1987Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine 1981Metallurgy in numismatics 19902000 years of zinc and brass 1990Brass in the medieval Islamic world

Cited by

2023A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF 2006Roman Brooches in Britain: A Technological and Typological Study based on the Richborough Collection. By Justine Bayley and Sarnia Butcher. 265mm. Pp xvi + 297, 185 b&w ills, 24 col pis, one CD. London: Society of Antiquaries of London, Research Report No. 68, 2004. ISBN 085431279X. £40 (hbk).2025Iron age metal trade between the Atlantic and the Baltic Sea: new insights from the first complete plano-convex ingot found in Sweden and ingot rods from the Iława Lakeland in northeastern Poland

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