Emily Chan
Two 4,000-year-old ax heads were anonymously mailed to an Irish museum. According to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), the package was received in late June.
The sender left an unsigned note in the package saying that the artifacts had been found with a metal detector in central Ireland. There were no further details or contact information in the note.
Now, the museum is asking the sender to reveal their identity. Museum officials hope to learn more about the location in which the ax heads were discovered.
“The ax heads were thoughtfully packed in foam cut-outs and cardboard, ensuring their safe arrival,” the museum said. “Our experts at the NMI have identified these items as flat ax heads from the Bronze Age, a significant archaeological find that offers a glimpse into Ireland’s distant past.”
The metal tools date between 2150 and 2000 B.C.E., which is a few hundred years after the early Bronze Age started in Ireland. This period was defined by metalworking practices, including the forging of bronze, which is made from copper and tin.
Matt Seaver, the assistant keeper of Irish antiquities at the museum, stated the ax heads were some of the earliest metal axes that were used in Ireland.
The metals used to make them may have originated from a place like “the copper mine in Ross Island,” located in the southwestern county of Kerry. It was Ireland’s first copper mine.
Currently, the museum is involved with an international study of metalwork from the Bronze Age. The new ax heads could lend some important information to the study.
If experts knew the exact location in which the ax heads were unearthed, they could also gain an understanding of the ancient cultural practices and settlement patterns in the area.
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