The diversity of Bronze Age hoards in Europe: some thoughts about a social practice and its variations (original) (raw)
Related papers
Hoards, Fragmentation and Exchange in the European Bronze Age
Raum, Gabe, Erinnerung, 2016
Hoards, Fragmentation and Exchange in the European Bronze Age Summary wor a long time the state of sronze rge deposits in vurope was considered to indicate a pattern of concealmentk intact objects were seen as dedications, whereas fragmented bronzes were taken to be hidden raw metals. This article discusses a number of cases of depositions of fragmented objects from the sritish zsles to show that this dualism and differentiation between the social and practical value of things is highly problematic and should not be automatically assumed of sronze rge societies. rs it turns out, intentional fragmentation can provide clues to the biography of the objects and their owners, the nature of their circulation, the site of their deposition, and the chain of events before their deposition.
Retrievable and irretrievable hoards: two case studies from the Late Bronze Age
West & East, Monografie 5, 2024
Apart from some exceptional bronze items, assemblages that confirm the irretrievability of the objects due to specific site circumstances (e.g. deep abysses), little remains to substantiate the unequivocal irretrievability of the deposited objects for the vast majority of the Bronze Age hoards. If we are to understand Bronze Age hoards as votive offerings, then their supposed irretrievability should be taken for granted. Can we therefore obtain some indirect confirmation of their irretrievability? Some characteristics of the Late Bronze Age hoards from the south-eastern Alpine region attest to their irretrievability indirectly (e.g. particularities of their stratigraphy, their structured composition). The case of recently acquired hoards and single finds from the Bled vicinity in the Slovene Alpine area is presented with regard to their extraordinary density and the presence of two golden appliqués. Another Late Bronze Age settlement hoard from Dragomelj in central Slovenia is presented with regard to its internal organisation. The correlation between the stratigraphic position of objects in the hoard and the degree of their fragmentation lead to the conclusion that the objects were taken out of the hoard and were redeposited in it. The irretrievability of the deposited objects is therefore far from certain.
Metal – Boarder – Ritual. Hoards in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Landscape
Hoards make one of the most mysterious categories of archaeological finds known from the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Doubts concerning their function should encourage researchers to use as wide information range as possible for understanding this phenomenon. However, there are still few scientific works considering their relationships with the settlement network or the cultural landscape. The presented text focuses on grasping regularities in location of spots of collecting articles made of bronze and iron, based on the results of studies over metal deposits from the Late (Urnfield culture) Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age from the South Baltic Coastland and Lake Districts.
T. Galewski, K. Ślusarska, Regional differences in V Bronze Age hoards from East Pomerania.
The 11th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium. The Changing Bronze Age in Fennoscandia and around the Baltic Sea, Helsinki, Finland 29.-31.10.2009
The hoard deposition phenomenon can’t be explained only by typological analysis. It should be studied on microregional level, or even singular case (see Mogielnicka – Urban 1997). Presented paper shows only a tip of the iceberg. Hoards should be treated as a integral part of Bronze and Iron Age culture. There are no simple and universal rule that explains the problem of metal objects accumulation (Krajewski 2007: 39). Furthermore arguments for interpreting hoard deposition as a manifestation of interregional cult (Blažek, Hansen 1997), the way of building up prestige of local elites (Ostoja-Zagórski 1992), socio-religious rites or offerings for deities (Blajer 1992, 2001: 288) seems to be insufficient. The explanation can be also more mundane – like a fixed toll/duty for travelling through foreign lands (see Kmieciński, Gurba 2006: 20). There are no unambiguous answers for the question of deposition purposes. New questions that arise in course of studying the problem make us return to discussion over hoards and its role in past societies. Maybe the key to find an answer lies in treating hoards deposition like a social phenomenon (Blajer 1999) and so we should search fixed and variables features in it?
Študijné Zvesti, 2024
Bronze Age hoards have been a prominent feature of archaeological research for over one hundred years and as such a topic of different interpretations. Focus has been and is often put on the question whether profane or cultic reasons and intentions should be seen behind the depositions. This paper aims to show that the hoarding practice can also clearly be seen as a form of risk management and an expression of coping with risks, whether those are encountered on an everyday level or as selective actual threats. The range of potential risks spans from maybe predominantly “economic” to also significantly “metaphysical” ones. The paper touches on the role of bronze as a valuable material and a significant form of property. While the raw metal could be remelted and used for many purposes, artefacts in object form carried an individual and symbolic value and meaning. This paper is based on the preliminary analysis of the Late Bronze Age/Urnfield hoards "Attersee I – IV" excavated at Buchberg im Attergau in Austria as part of the BeLaVi – project in 2019. The deposition of these hoards likely represents a protection of goods connected to the experience of a “historical” threat. This paper will present the case study, the composition and nature of the hoards, and discusses and contextualises the ideas involved.
Scrap hoards of the Late Bronze Age
E. Borgna (ed.), Nature and function of bronze deposition between Europe and the Mediterranean: Hoards of the Late Bronze Age. West & East Monografie, 5. Trieste 2024, 19-40, 2024
Although fragmentation is a distinctive feature of Late Bronze Age hoards, little research into scrapping has been carried out so far. The article reviews the most important aspects of fragmentation in Late Bronze Age hoards and discusses a number of characteristic conclusions which are drawn from the archaeological evidence. Recurring patterns in the archaeological record evidently reflect manifold facets of hoarding, both in economic as in religious terms. In contrast, patterns in the way of interpreting hoards rather seem to mirror preconceptions of what the Bronze Age world would have looked like. A less dogmatic approach in explaining fragmentation in Late Bronze Age hoards is suggested.
European Journal of Archaeology 17, 3 2014, 468–486.
Hoard finds appear throughout the European Bronze Age with distinct chronological and chorological peaks. While there is some consensus on seeing hoards as an expression of cultic behaviour, especially the large ‘scrap metal’ hoards still provoke interpretations as raw material collected for recycling. With socketed axes whose sockets were intentionally filled with deliberately fragmented metalwork, S. Hansen (1996–1998) has pointed out a group of finds that could be crucial to a better understanding of ‘scrap’ hoards. Using the finds from the Carpathian Basin as a case study, a twofold biographical approach is applied to this group. A close look at the complex use-life of the objects themselves, as well as an attempt at re-integrating them into the local history of hoarding, leads to the conclusion that they constitute single acts of dedication in larger contexts. ‘Scrap hoards’ can thus be understood as long-term accumulations of votive objects and can be integrated into the social practice of Bronze Age hoarding.