2nd century BC-1st century AD. A pair of miniature silver axehead pendants, one with a wide blade, the other with a narrow triangular-section blade. 2.4 grams total, 16-18mm (3/4"). From the collection of a Surrey gentleman; acquired 1970-1980. 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. [2, No Reserve]