Making objects from bronze is a skilled process which would have required an experienced bronze-worker. Bronze is made by mixing molten copper and tin, which would first have been extracted from their ores by smelting (heating to release the metal content). Most bronze objects were cast – liquid metal poured into moulds and left to cool. The surface of the object would then be finished by hammering, grinding and polishing.

Archaeological evidence for bronze-working is relatively sparse. This may seem surprising given that there is growing evidence for Bronze Age mining elsewhere in Britain and that thousands of bronze objects have been found throughout the country. However, most moulds were broken up or recycled.

It is probable that knowledge of how to work bronze would have been restricted to certain individuals or groups. The place of the bronzesmith in Bronze Age communities is poorly understood but it is likely that he held specific social and religious status. The earliest known date for bronze objects in Britain is around 2200 BC with regular bronze-working probably occurring soon after. However, from around 1700 BC, there was a dramatic expansion in bronze production that changed the scale and complexity of bronze-working.