A bronze ax of impressive size and quality has been discovered in the village of Berg im Lamentel in northwestern Switzerland. Dating back to the Middle Bronze Age, it is about 3500 years old. Cast in solid bronze, it is 22 cm (8.7 in) tall and unusually heavy. The level of craftsmanship is exceptional.
The artifact was discovered by Sacha Schneider, a metal detectorist working with the Basel-Landschaft’s Department of Archaeology, during a systematic archaeological survey of the steep slope below the outcropping overlooking the village. It is a axe-axe of the Grinchin type, named after the town in the foothills of the Jura Mountains where a hoard of Bronze Age axes and sickles was discovered in 1856.
Schneider found another bronze artifact nearby, a clothing pin. It does not appear that they were part of a single deposit.
Accumulation of multiple metal objects was very common in the Bronze Age. Sometimes, more than a hundred items were collected in a very small area. Often, various items such as tools, weapons, and jewelry were mixed together. Research suggests that such hoards were deliberately buried. In most cases, they are interpreted as offerings to unknown gods. Individual bronze objects, often found in specific locations such as rock crevices or in water, are also interpreted in this way. An ax from Berg was also found in a rock pocket filled with earth and therefore could have been a single offering. However, since other bronze objects were found at the same site, it cannot be ruled out that this was a large hoard that was later looted or dispersed.
The village of Berg is located on the border of Switzerland and France. Today its somewhat peripheral location should not obscure the fact that we are in a very fertile region with good connections to the Rhine and Rhone valleys (Burgundy Gate). Findings from nearby Rödersdorf show that people settled here in the Middle Bronze Age. Another Grinch-type bronze ax was found in 1968 during the construction of a swimming pool at Esch and may indicate a route to the Birs valley. In Biederthal (France), about one kilometer from the Berg find site, a large bronze hoard was discovered in 1998, which is currently housed in the “Treasure Finds” exhibition at the Historical Museum. Clearly, the area between the flat Sundargau region and the northern foothills of the Jura Mountains was of particular importance to the people of that time.
The newly discovered ax is now on display in a special exhibition at the Historical Museum Basel (Barfüsserkirche) along with other bronze objects found in the area.
