Wellmann Imre szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1971-1972 (Budapest, 1973)

White, Kenneth D.: The Great Chesterford scythes

THE GREAT CHESTERFORD SCYTHES KENNETH D. WHITE (Reading, United Kingdom) This paper consists of three sections : first, a short account of the discovery of these remarkable scythe-blades, secondly, a physical description, including the main results of an analysis made by the research division of the British Iron and Steel Institute, and finally, a review of the major questions, both technical and economic, raised by the finds, and the work so far done on them. I. The scythe-blades (there are fourteen of them, of identical shape and approximately identical length) formed part of a rich deposit of iron implements of the Roman period discovered in a pit near Great Chesterford, Suffolk, England, in 1854. The finds cannot be accurately dated, but are probably of the middle of the fourth century A. D. They have remained largely unnoticed in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge until 1966, when the current series of tests and experiments was begun. II. A. Measurements Some of the blades are perfect; all bear signs of sharpening; they vary somewhat in measurement across the span from 150 cm. to 165 cm. The rear portion of the blade is curved through 180°, so that the heel looks towards the point. The blade, 5 cm broad at its widest, is strongly reinforced by a heavy flange. The heel has a small tang, 0.2 cm. in length, springing from the back and turned at right angles to the plane of the blade. There is virtually no upturn at the heel, so that the whole implement remains horizontal when laid on the ground (see pl. 1). The features of special interest are (i) the great length of the blade (they are not unique; two blades of identical pattern and size were found on a Roman site in Gloucestershire in 1962, and blades as long as this, though rare in later English practice, are not unknown) (ii) the horseshoe shape of the back portion (iii) the fact that the heel is practically in the same plane as the blade.