In 2023, an Oak Shovel and Antler Pick from the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery collections were sent for carbon dating. Both remarkable artefacts had been found in Carnon Valley when alluvial tin streamworks were being reworked in the nineteenth century.
The research, led by Dr Alan Williams from the Department of Archaeology at Durham University indicates that both artefacts are from the British Bronze Age (2400-800 BC), making them the first Bronze Age tin mining tools to be found in Europe.
The Oak Wooden Shovel, found in 1815 has most recently been radiocarbon dated at around 3200 years old by the Project Ancient Tin Team, with a grant from the Royal Archaeological Institute. The design is formed from one piece of wood, unlike Medieval wooden shovels that are in two pieces.
Found circa 1855, the Antler Pick (48cm long) is around 3600 years old, or Early Bronze Age, and is the first evidence for the extraction of tin and/or alluvial gold in the British Isles. Examination of the Antler Pick reveals tally marks carved into the side, which could signify the recording of work by prehistoric miners, with the research and dating for this piece conducted by Dr Simon Timberlake, Early Mines Research Group.
Now with designated dates, these two items within Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery’s collection are of historical significance, representing the first Bronze Age tin mining tools discovered in Europe and showing evidence of Bronze Age tin workings in Cornwall. Small amounts of gold also found in the Carnon Valley have been linked by chemical fingerprint to the gold in the famous Nebra Sky Disc, an artefact thought to be the world’s oldest map of the stars. Found in Germany, and considered one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century, the inclusion of Cornish gold and tin in this disc along with other finds suggests Cornish prehistoric mining and trading practices may have pioneered the European Bronze Age.
