Reinecke’s ABC and the Chronology of the British Bronze Age (original) (raw)

ABSTRACT First, Reinecke’s chronology of the central European Bronze Age, the subsequent divisions of his Urnfield phases by Müller-Karpe (1959) and Sperber (1987) and the new absolute chronology (post-Reinecke and Müller-Karpe) based on scientific dating will be discussed. It will be pointed out that Sperber’s ‘new’ phases – like those of most Swiss authors – although aligned to Müller-Karpe’s terminology, do not correspond in content to the traditional Müller-Karpe scheme usually still used for establishing correlations across Europe. Special attention will be also given to recently introduced ‘post-Reinecke’ phases, i.e. Bz A3 and Ha C0/ C1a. Müller-Karpe’s Ha B2, normally disregarded, will be discussed and reinstated, at least for western central Europe. The traditional and revised British chronologies will be discussed and correlated with the current central European schemes in the main body of this paper. The British Early Bronze Age will be divided into three major phases: the earliest (EBA 1 or Migdale phase) corresponding to Reinecke Bz A1; Wessex I (EBA 2 or Bush Barrow phase) aligned to the classical phase of the Únětice culture of early Bz A2; whereas Wessex II (EBA 3 or Camerton-Snowshill phase) should correspond to the conventional late Bz A2 (i.e. Bz A3), or Sögel phase in northwest Germany, and persist – in Wessex – into Bz B and possibly early C. The earliest Middle Bronze Age (mainly found outside Wessex) is seen as contemporary with later Wessex II burials in Wessex and thus with Bz B (Wohlde phase in northwest Germany) and early C (Reinecke’s 1924 Bz C1). The later Middle Bronze Age or Taunton phase should mainly correspond to later Bz C, i.e. C2 (Period II in Northern Europe) and possibly persist into early D. The earlier Penard (Appleby) phase – characterized by straight-sided blades – is seen to correspond to the entire Rosnoën complex in Brittany and Bz D and Müller-Karpe’s Ha A1 in central Europe (Period III in northern Europe). The later Penard phase (Ffynhonnau) is believed to be contemporary with Wilburton in southeast England and St.-Brieuc-des-Iffs in Brittany, all having to be aligned to Ha A2 and Ha B1 in central and Period IV in northern Europe. Burgess’s late Wilburton or Needham’s early Ewart Park, i.e. the Blackmoor horizon, is aligned to Müller-Karpe’s discarded Ha B2, whereas the classic Ewart Park phase including the Carp’s Tongue complex should correspond to Müller-Karpe’s classic Ha B3 and Period V in northern Europe. Period V should also incorporate the newly established Ha C0/C1a (Gündlingen horizon), whereas Period VI has to be assigned to Kossack’s classic Ha C (now Ha C1b and C2). The Llyn Fawr phase, previously aligned with classic Ha C, ought to be divided into an earlier horizon (possibly called Boyton), characterized by indigenous British ‘Hallstatt forms’ i.e. Gündlingen swords, winged chapes and trapezoidal razors (and perhaps surviving Carp’s Tongue and Ewart forms). Boyton should be paralleled with Ha C0/ C1a and late Period V (8th century BC), whereas the later horizon (late 8th to late 7th century) is marked the eponymous Llyn Fawr find, which corresponds to the classic Ha C1 (now Ha C1b or Mindelheim horizon) and Ha C2 as well as to Period VI.