In the midst of Godelier, Facebook and bloody forays. Several comments on metal and its availability in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Organisation and Practice of Metal Smithing in Later Bronze Age Europe
Journal of World Prehistory, 2020
CHECK OUT FULL PAPER HERE: https://rdcu.be/b5FQx During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500-800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet there remains a significant imbalance between the vast number of finished artefacts that survive and the evidence for where, how, and by whom they were produced. At the centre of these questions is the metal smith, who has been variously regarded in scholarship as nomadic, a reviled outsider, elite in status, a mediator of wealth, a shaman or a proto-scientist. In most cases, however, the social role of the smith is seen as central to the functioning of Bronze Age societies This paper provides a new cross-regional study that evaluates current theoretical paradigms in the light of empirical evidence. It does this through contextual analyses of metalworking traces, focussing on case studies primarily from Atlantic, Nordic, Urnfield and Balkan regions of Europe. Our work breaks down the production cycle into various practical steps, and the material evidence for each step is evaluated. This enables similarities and differences on the broader European scale to be identified and discussed. Through this, our aim is to better characterise the modes of participation in smithing and the identities of those involved, and consequently to improve our understanding of the material patterns related to smithing activities that occur archaeologically. These patterns range from discard or deposition at settlements, the construction of identity in mortuary practice, technological choices in alloy design and treatment, and the quality of finished metalwork objects. Concerning the question of the single smith, it is argued that the material evidence in many regions indicates that metal-working was more broadly embedded in society; this might be through cross-craft interaction, the location of metalworking activities, and the reuse of casting debris and moulds. We argue that crafting metal was a commonplace and socially visible activity, which was in many regions a venue for enhancing social integration and stability.
The Provenance, Use, and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The State of Debate
Bronze is the defining metal of the European Bronze Age and has been at the center of archaeological and science-based research for well over a century. Archaeo-metallurgical studies have largely focused on determining the geological origin of the constituent metals, copper and tin, and their movement from producer to consumer sites. More recently, the effects of recycling, both temporal and spatial, on the composition of the circulating metal stock have received much attention. Also, discussions of the value and perception of bronze, both as individual objects and as hoarded material, continue to be the focus of scholarly debate. Here, we bring together the sometimes-diverging views of several research groups on these topics in an attempt to find common ground and set out the major directions of the debate, for the benefit of future research. The paper discusses how to determine and interpret the geological provenance of new metal entering the system; the circulation of extant metal across time and space, and how this is seen in changing compositional signatures; and some economic aspects of metal production. These include the role of metal-producing communities within larger economic settings, quantifying the amount of metal present at any one time within a society, and aspects of hoarding, a distinctive European phenomenon that is less prevalent in the Middle Eastern and Asian Bronze Age societies.
The earliest metallurgy in Western Europe tends to be investigated through comparing the exploitation of different ore sources and the presence of specific production techniques. However, this approach does not address why the earliest metal occurred in the form that it did and how this relates to the dynamics of the prehistoric communities involved Exploring the processes through which the earliest metallurgical traditions are created involves examining the broader spatial and temporal patterning in the available choices and identifiable actions that influence the production, circulation and deposition of metal objects. It can be shown that, despite common origins, metal reflects the distinctive, variable and changing standards of the communities during the later fourth and third millennia BC.
Gifts or commodities? Reconfiguring Bronze Age exchange in northwest Europe.
Forging identies: the mobility of culture in Bronze Age Europe, 2015
This contribution explores the longstanding debate about the relative significance of gift and commodity exchange in the European Bronze Age. Anthropological research indicates that the contemporary market economy is itself a product of particular cultural values and social relationships, so that the distinction between gifts and commodities (seen as social and asocial respectively) might in fact not be useful. Although the presence of broken bronzes in hoards is usually interpreted as evidence for commodification, here it will be suggested that fragments of metal artefacts were curated and circulated precisely because they were meaningful objects with known histories. The final deposition of these objects occurred in the context of rituals that functioned to maintain social categories in the face of transformative practices such as the recycling of bronze.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2023
Metal artefacts from Bronze Age hoards have routinely been used to study interregional contacts. Their stylistic and typological features helped distinguish local products and imports by appearance. In the last 40 years, combined lead isotope and chemical analyses of metals have been widely applied to verify hypotheses based on style and typology. This paper is a comprehensive typological and analytical study of a metal item hoard discovered in Paszowice, SW Poland. In the Bronze Age, the area was inhabited by the Lusatian Urnfield culture (ca. 1350/1300-800/750 BC) communities. We expected that at least some of the artefacts would be local products fashioned according to foreign stylistic patterns. The research aimed to determine whether a 'classical' stylistic analysis combined with provenance studies of metals would allow more decisive conclusions. This combination of methods could also show how the metal reached the Lusatian Urnfield culture settlement zone. We conducted a detailed typological and chronological analysis to map the distribution of similar artefact types. It demonstrated that stylistic matches for the artefacts from Paszowice occur mainly in NE Hungary, S Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania. Selected metal artefacts (both tin bronze items and raw copper objects) from Paszowice were also analysed for their chemical (EPMA) and lead isotope (MC ICP MS) compositions. The study revealed many copper sources used for their production, ranging from the nearest copper mines in the Slovak Ore Mountains, through Eastern Alps and mines in Sardinia, to possibly the Iberian Peninsula. In this way, we identified the potential trade routes by which metal could get to SW Poland: the southwestern and southeastern routes and the Mediterranean-Danube route. The Iberian metal might have also reached the study area from the norththrough its redistribution by Scandinavian traders. Our results show that metal from many sources circulated in central Europe during the Late Bronze Age. The Lusatian Urnfield communities were part of a pan-European exchange network and maintained extensive long-distance contacts, allowing metal acquisition from various sources.