2nd century BC-1st century AD. A silver axehead pendant with flared head, flat blade and pierced 'eye' with a round-section suspension loop with twisted wire terminals. 2.54 grams, 23mm (1"). From the property of an Essex private collector; acquired in the early 1990s. Axe symbolism can be traced back to the Bronze Age in Europe, with miniature examples being found in the Urnfield graves of east-central Europe. In the Mediterranean world miniature axes were offered to a goddess at cave sanctuaries on Crete, and to Zeus at his temples of Dodona and Olympia as early as the second millennium BC. In the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age there is evidence for an association between axe symbols and the sun cult with examples of ritual axes being found in North Italy incised with sun wheels and swastikas. [No Reserve]