CELTIC IRON SOCKETED AXE

La Tene culture C.400-300 BC. See Das Eiserne Kampfbeil, Wilbrand, plate 1. 4 3/8" overall with tapered rectangular section socket and well flared crescent edge blade. Excavated, one side with large patterned pits from encrustation to pebbles, the other smoother, indicative of a water find. The Le Tene culture flourished in the area which is now southeast Germany/Austria/northeast Switzerland from about 450 BC to the Roman Conquest.