King's Meadows, bronze spearhead

In 1889 Canon Greenwell lectured on "ancient British implements" dredged from the Tyne, some of which were by then in his collection, later to go to the British Museum. The objects included three spearheads, of which this one had previously been in R. Blair's possession, and which had been recovered from the Tyne at King's Meadows Island. The object, 240 mm long, was described as, "A pegged, socketed spearhead with lunate openings. Socket has lozenge- shaped section. Point bent". Heslop suggests that the metalwork at King's Meadows was a deliberate votive deposition. The River Tyne was a major arterial route inland and a possible boundary between tribal groupings, and appears to have been the focus of ceremonial activity by communities gathering here from considerable distances. There is a recurring pattern in the Bronze Age for metalwork deposition in watery places. The concentration of objects around the small island of King's Meadows has parallels at Runnymede on the Thames.