Interdisciplinary Study of a Bronze Hoard from Gorj County, Romania (original) (raw)
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THE HOARD OF BRONZE ARTIFACTS DISCOVERED NEAR VILLAGE HARAGÎŞ (CANTEMIR DISTRICT
Keywords: hoard of bronze artifacts, tools, adornments, raw material, late Bronze Age. In the spring of 2017, during topographic works on the territory of the forest north of the village of Haragîş (Cantemir district), was discovered a hoard made of bronze objects. The information about this discovery was immediately sent to the specialists of the National Archaeological Agency, who soon conducted an inspection in the area where the hoard had been found 1. The hoard was discovered at 2.5 km NNW on the northern edge of the village, on the eastern slope of a promontory at an altitude of 260 m (geographic coordinates: 46°18'43.23"N 28°21'38.21"E). On the place where the deposit had been indicated by the discoverer was excavated a 2×2 m square of land in order to convey stratigraphic data and eventually retrieve other bronze pieces. It was possible to determine that the hoard was deposited at a depth of 0.4-0.6 m, at the base of a brown-gray soil, containing vegetation debris and small fragments of coal, without clear outline of the pit in which the hoard was found. From the information provided by the discoverer, it appears that the bronze objects were deposited compactly in several layers, the pieces of ingots (five copies) being placed at the base, above them were placed seven sickles, then three bracelets and a hairpin. Four other sickles were laid over the bracelets, and among them were found four fragments of sickles, an applique and an earring.
In Polish archaeology - though not only - in past decades hoards were treated as assemblages of precious artefacts taken out of their cultural context and consequently their Investigation was focused on the typology of particular relics. One particularly Important challenge therefore is the formulation of an appropriate methodology, which on the one hand would make use of the research potential of contemporary archaeology and on the other, place these enigmatic finds in the appropriate social context. This is of particular significance in the view of the rapid growth in numbers of such finds, as has been the case in recent years. Dated to the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 950-800/750 BC), the hoard from Lubnowy Wielkie, is an example of a find indeed subjected to such a multi-aspectual methodology. Apart from typical archaeological analysis for the purposes of a fuller understanding of the documented find, research was also undertaken in archaeometallurgy by means of microscopic analysis, investigation of the chemical composition of alloys (ED-XRF and SEM-EDS) and computer tomography (research in part conducted in association with the E-RIHS.PL consortium). The above mentioned assemblage is composed of embellishments featuring a very coherent style. In all, there are four objects that could have been worn by the one and the same person. The analyses conducted had the aim of verifying hypotheses occurring in archaeological works, ones contending such an assemblage could have been the property of one person and that it was created at the same time in respect to an important life event such as a rite of passage. Further research questions concern the technology of making the ornaments. The research methodology was chosen in respect to the archaeological specificity of this hoard in particular, in the context of frequent interpretative propositions.
(2020) Popescu et alii, The deposition of bronze artefacts from Preajba Mare (Gorj County, Romania)
Dacia N.S., 2020
The debate focuses on two complete socketed axes recovered by metal detecting from a forest nearby Preajba Mare, Gorj County. The artefacts are typologically different, but they both date from the Late Bronze Age or the beginning of the Iron Age (Bz D–Ha A1). One of the socketed axes has a bronze rod twisted around it and the interior of the socket is stuffed with bronze items. X-ray computed tomography provided diverse information of technological nature and allowed visualizing inside the socket of the respective axe. Wedging metal fragments or even complete items made of other raw materials inside socketed axes were highlighted by Svend Hansen over 20 years ago. There are few finds of blocked socketed axes compared to the total number of such artefacts. In south‑-east Europe such artefacts occur in hoards consisting usually of both complete and fragmented items and dated mainly to the Bz D–Ha A1 period. The paper reviews the main opinions regarding the motivations that might have triggered such a practice – stuffing the area where the handle was inserted when the piece was functional. The final part of the paper discusses the particular case of Preajba Mare where within the same area with the socketed axes were also found fragmented bronze implements, deposited most likely during the Ha A1 period. Whether the complete artefacts represent a hoard on itself, separate from that of the fragmented implements or the two categories of artefacts – complete and fragmented – represent a single hoard are two different hypotheses, in their own right.
Starinar LXVIII, 2018
A part from the huge contribution to the knowledge of the topic of the Early Iron Age in the territory of the Balkans and Serbia, R. Vasi} also made huge contributions to studying the Bronze Age in the Balkans. In the volume Die Nadeln im Zentralbalkan (Vojvodina, Serbien, Kosovo und Make-donien) from the series Prähistorische Bronzefunde, he published decorative pins from the Velebit necropolis, on the periphery of the village of Velebit, in the vicinity ofKanjìa (northern Ba~ka). 1 On this occasion, we present jewellery made of bronze sheets. Besides the highest production techniques being applied, it also represents rare, but not unique, bronze products of the Kozsider horizon of the Middle Bronze Age in the territory of Serbia. Hügelgräber culture, or The Tumulus Culture, extended over a wide area from the Rhine in the west to the Carpathian basin in the east, Czechia in the north and Ba~ka and western Serbia in the South of Europe. 2 If we presume that the northwestern parts of Pannonia represented the core of this cultural manifestation, other regions show local features in such numbers that they resemble different cultures. This depended on the power of newly arriving communities that mixed with local populations. 3 Numerous metal finds that possess characteristics of the Kozsider horizon during the Bronze Age in the Carpathian basin show superiority made through the trade and exchange of high quality bronze weapons Abstract-In 1970, a Bronze Age necropolis in the village of Velebit to the north of Vojvodina was fully explored, but has remained unpublished until today. Apart from possessing all of the features of a Hügelgräber culture complex, some finds indicate connections to the Belegi{-Cruceni culture, developed at the very south of the Carpathian basin. In this paper, we shall present only some of the most attractive finds from the necropolis, including jewellery made of bronze sheets. They include spiral greaves, a belt and finger-rings. The remaining finds shall be presented in a monograph that is being planned. The paper represents the results of the projects Archaeology of Serbia: cultural identity, integration factors, technological processes and the role of central Balkans in development of European prehistory (OI 177020) and Cultural changes and population migrations in early prehistory of the central Balkans (OI 177023) financed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.
Search of Late Bronze Age Tresaures. Hungarian Archeology, E-Journal, 2012 Winter
In 2006, the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University began a research project for retrieving Bronze Age hoards. As a result, we have succeeded in salvaging twenty-nine bronze and three gold hoards, and we were also able to clarify their find circumstances. The research project was launched because we found that many Late Bronze Age sites had suffered immense damages caused by looters using metal detectors.
Ege Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sanat Tarihi Dergisi, 2020
Öz Makale kapsamında İzmir Arkeoloji Müzesi envanterine kayıtlı on beş bronz eser incelenmiştir. Çalışılan eserler aydınlatma araçları ve buhurdanlar olmak üzere iki farklı grup altında değerlendirilmiştir. Müzede bulunan aydınlatma araçları; kandiller, kandilin üzerine oturduğu kandelabrum gövdesi, yağ haznesi parçaları ve polykandilion askısı olmak üzere sınıflandırılmıştır. Bizans dönemine tarihlenen bronz kandiller; evlerin, resmi binaların ve kiliselerin aydınlatılmasında kullanılmıştır. Bizans İmparatorluğu dönemine tarihlenen bronz buhurdanlar, kısaca ayin esnasında kokulu bitkilerin ve ağaç kabukların yakıldığı kaplardır. Bizans döneminde buhurdanlar, farklı törenler ve ayinlerde kullanılmıştır. Bizans toplumunun günlük yaşamında yer alan geleneksel objesi konumundadır. Bir örnek dışında buluntu yerleri bilinmeyen, müzeye satın alma ve müsadere yoluyla kazandırılan bu eserlerin tarihlendirme önerileri de çok yakın benzerleri üzerinden yapılmıştır. Arkeolojik alanların Bizans tabakalarında olduğu kadar, müzeler ve özel koleksiyonlarda sıklıkla yer alan objeler Bizans günlük ve dini yaşamına ilişkin somut belgeler olarak Bizans yaşam kültürü ve alışkanlıklarını algılamayı kolaylaştırmaktadır. Makale içinde ayrıntılı olarak ele alınan bu eserler makale sonunda katalog bilgileri ile tanıtılmaktadır. Abstract Within the scope of the article, fifteen bronze objects which are registered in İzmir Archeology Museum inventory were examined. The studied objects were evaluated under two different groups as lighting tools and incense burners. Lighting tools in the museum; classified as oil lamps, candelabrum body, oil reservoir parts and polycandelon hanger.
Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae, 2018
Several examples of raw bronze, representing remnants of casting, fragments of ingots, and fragments of precisely indeterminable objects, which were discovered during the excavations of the Iron Age settlement Most na Soči by the end of the 1970s and at the beginning of 1980s, were selected for the analysis by the method of proton-induced X-rays (PIXE). The measurements also included two casting spoons, which were expected to contain metal remains. For comparison, we also analysed a selection of the Early Iron Age products (fibulae, base of a situla, earrings) from the Most na Soči cemetery (excavations of J. Szombathy) and from the graves in Bohinj (cemeteries Lepence and Bitnje), which are held in the National Museum of Slovenia. Several objects from Most na Soči have already been analysed,1 which revealed that the prehistoric bronze contains considerable amounts of lead.