A late Bronze Age button has been discovered with a hoard of axe heads near Barton Turf, on the northern edge of the Norfolk Broads. The find, made by a metal detectorist in 2023, has been declared treasure by a coroner.
Dr Helen Geake, Norfolk's finds liaison officer, described examples of button use from 3,000 years ago as "very, very rare." Dr Ed Caswell, a Bronze Age small finds specialist, noted it is only the third Bronze Age button found in Norfolk, with only 19 recorded on the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme database.
The button, dating between 1000BC and 700BC, was found with an axe head, two years after another axe head was discovered at the same site. It is believed all three items were placed in the ground at the same time. Experts are currently debating whether the intentional deposition was for recycling or had a ritualistic purpose.
Norwich Castle Museum hopes to acquire the button.