Circa 1200-800 BC. A nicely patinated double axe-head cast in bronze. The weapon features an undecorated, short cylindrical shaft hole, a flattened top with a vertical crescent shaped blade with sides that broaden out towards the cutting edge and a smaller horizontal blade to the back. Beautiful green patination covers the surface. The Koban culture was a late Bronze Age and Iron Age culture in Northern and Central Caucasus. It is preceded by the Colchian culture of the Western Caucasus and the Kharachoi culture further east. Koban culture is named after the village of Koban, in Northern Ossetia, where in 1869 battle-axes, daggers, decorative items and other objects were discovered in a kurgan. Later, further sides were uncovered finding an array of beautiful artefacts opening our understanding of the culture. Size: L:160mm / W:47mm ; 117g. Provenance: From the private collection; previously bought by Dolf Aaij in Ancient Art Gallery Strombroek in Amsterdam, in 2005.