British ceremonial weapons revisited: A new Plougrescant-Ommerschans dirk from East Rudham, Norfolk, and its typological, geochemical and landscape context

A Plougrescant-Ommerschans type dirk was discovered at East Rudham, Norfolk, in the course of agricultural work in 2002 or 2003. It is only the second of this rare type from England, following the discovery of the Oxborough dirk, also in Norfolk, during the late 1980s (Needham 1990). At first the significance of the new example was not recognised by the finder and landowner and it languished on the farm’s premises for ten years prior to being reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), and thereby the British Museum, in 2013. News of the dirk’s (re-)discovery made headlines and attracted international interest. As a single object of bronze, the dirk was not protected by England’s Treasure Act, which requires two or more bronze objects or one or more precious metal objects.1 Despite this, an approach from Norwich Castle