A Bronze Age cast copper alloy barded arrowhead which has been designated a Find of Note of Regional Importance. This is an example of how the understanding of an object has changed thanks to the work of detectorists in unearthing them and recording them at the PAS. It has been dated to between 1350 -1050 BC.
The barbed and tanged form in flint was used from the Early Bronze Age. The use of this later version in copper alloy, a much more expensive material, could represent a significant display of social status.
Penard Hoard
There are now more than 20 examples recorded at the PAS but before the scheme started there was only one know example. It was part of a small hoard, found in 1827 by a quarryman in a limestone chasm at Llangrove, Pennard a few miles south-west of Swansea. As well as the arrowhead, it comprised a slender socketed axe, one plain pegged spearhead and three Ballintober Type sword fragments. These helped date the hoard to c.1275 – 1140 BC, and this metalworking phase is now known as the Penard Period.
The arrowhead in the Penard hoard was thought to be a continental import. However, with the increasing number of isolated detecting finds of these arrowheads, it became clear that they were actually part of the British Bronze age metalworking tradition.