SECRETS OF THE DRAVA: BRONZE AGE METALWORK IN CONTINENTAL CROATIA

The article presents a group of Bronze Age artefacts recovered from the Drava river wetlands in continental Croatia, examining their typological and chronological markers, and assessing the technological characteristics of the material through spectrometric and use-wear analyses. We discuss the context of the finds, types of items retrieved and deposition locations, and how these fit into the patterns of European Bronze Age metal deposition practices. Compositional and metalwork use analyses indicate that most of the items were in use prior to their deposition and display solid metallurgical skill. Chronologically, typologically, compositionally, and conceptually, the items align with the depositional trends seen in the wider region and beyond.     

Original DocumentsCharter of Cuthwulf,Bishop of Hereford

The investigation of a Late Bronze Age occupation layer on the banks of the Thames below Wallingford, on a number of occasions since 1949, has yielded an assemblage of Late Bronze Age pottery, flints, small finds including metalwork, and animal bones. The environment of the site, and the sequence of alluviation, have been elucidated by molluscan analysis.

The precise character of the settlement is unknown, but it can be compared with other British later Bronze Age settlements in respect of both its riverside location and the presence of a ‘midden’ deposit. The site bears directly on the question of riverine finds of Bronze Age metalwork; it is concluded that settlement erosion does not account for much of this material. The site is one of the few Late Bronze Age settlements to have been indentified in the Upper Thames Valley, and represents an early phase in the Iron Age settlement sequence of this area.     

Bronze Age Field Systems in the Thames Valley

In the last two decades excavation along the River Thames has shown the remarkable survival of Bronze Age field systems. A managed farming landscape emerged in this lowland area during the Middle Bronze Age and continued to develop until the end of the Late Bronze Age. In the latter period the field systems were divided into several regional groups in each of which there was a high status settlement and a concentration of river metalwork. They provide evidence for a predominantly pastoral economy in the Thames Valley on a scale which may have supported an increasingly hierarchical society. Settlements and field systems were abandoned during the Late Bronze Age, and by the Bronze Age–Iron Age transition new sites were largely confined to the extreme upper reaches of the Thames, an area which had been peripheral to the alliance and exchange system that had operated downstream.     

THE RIVER HAS NEVER DIVIDED US: BRONZE AGE METALWORK DEPOSITION IN WESTERN BRITAIN

The significant quantities of Bronze Age metalwork recovered from the River Thames have focused archaeological attention on the presence of metalwork from riverine locations and led to the expectation that rivers should contain metalwork. Finds from bogs and marshes have also been considered to be part of this practice of deposition in ‘wet places’. Whilst rivers and bogs can indeed be thought of as ‘wet’, this overlooks the fundamental physical and cosmological differences between these two types of wetland. This paper will consider Bronze Age metalwork finds from rivers in the west of Britain, paying particular attention to Britain's longest river, the Severn. The finds will be compared to those from bogs and marshes, and an attempt will be made to explain these differences in terms of the opposing metaphorical qualities of flowing and standing water, and the landscapes in which these wet places are located.     

Branded Axes,Thrown into a Pool? The Hoogeloon Hoard and the Shape‐Based Bronze Economy of the North‐West European Bronze Age

One of the biggest challenges for students of the European Bronze Age is to understand the reason behind the massive deposition of large amounts of recyclable metal in non‐metalliferous regions. Such depositions are particularly puzzling when material was buried in a manner which directly seems to denote trade itself, in so‐called ‘trade hoards’. Based on observations on a recent find of such a hoard, in Hoogeloon (NL), we move to an overview of Bronze Age metalwork economy in general and the deposition of trade stock in particular. We argue that Middle Bronze Age metalwork circulation in North‐west Europe may be understood as an aes formatum system, with the serially produced axes in hoards displaying a koiné having a particular social evaluation: a ‘brand’. We suggest that objects were selected by brands for their deposition in the landscape and that this ‘ritual’ act was integral to the ‘practical’ economy of circulation.     

On Bosses of Roman Shields Found in Northumberland and Lancashire

The paper presents and analyses 46 new radiocarbon measurements undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit with the aim of critically evaluating the existing chronology for Bronze Age metalwork. Samples chosen, from both old museum collections and more recent finds, were all organics in immediate physical contact with various types of bronze object; indeed the great majority were in direct functional association. Contextual integrity was further monitored by the identification of wood species and the estimation of growth stage, which was found consistently to be modest. The scientific procedures employed allowed the generation of dates with good precision and cross-referenced through control samples to the dendrochronological master curves.

Although one of the first attempts in Europe to radiocarbon date Bronze Age metalwork systematically, the results have yielded a coherent picture which confirms the broad outline of the traditional sequence. However, calibration followed by statistical analysis does point to the need to stretch the chronology of the middle—late bronze age metalwork assemblages backwards, by varying amounts, revisions which were in part anticipated from recent dating research on the continent. Re-dating has been most dramatic for Wilburton metalwork, the dating of which had not been shifted since 1979. For clarity the newly proposed chronology is pegged to a series of single dates each marking the fulcrum of a transition between assemblages. While the current data set suggests that assemblage overlaps were not prolonged, more data will be needed if durations are to be estimated better. The existing results do, however, already show the potential for establishing more subtle trends in the development of Bronze Age metalwork.     

METALWORKING TECHNIQUES ON THE EURASIAN STEPPES IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE: TECHNICAL ANALYSES OF THE BORODINO TREASURE SPEARHEADS

The Late Bronze Age is a period characterized by chariots and riders, spearheads, bows and battle axes. Such are the assemblages of grave goods attributed to the Seima‐Turbino, Timber‐grave, Abashevo, Sintashta, Pokrovsk and other cultures of the Eurasian forest‐steppe and steppe belt. Although hoard deposits are comparatively rare in this context, this category of finds has also provided some extraordinary examples of metalwork. This paper reports on the analysis of three such artefacts, namely the gold‐ornamented silver‐alloy spearheads from the ‘treasure’ recovered near Borodino in Ukraine at the beginning of the twentieth century. The high‐ resolution technological study of these items presented here includes experimental research to produce similar decorative patterns and a comparison of the resulting traces and imprints with the original archaeological artefacts. The results help to identify use‐wear traces and reveal new information about casting and crafting techniques, tool sets and individual technical styles. Although the spearheads share some basic decorative features such as a gold plate attached to the silver, variations in the tools used and the technical repertoire – chasing, punching, and cutting – suggest that the spearheads were decorated by different hands. The study inevitably leaves many questions about the ‘life history’ for these objects unanswered, but takes the first steps towards a more complete understanding of this remarkable assemblage.     

POTS, HOUSES AND METAL: TECHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS AT THE BRONZE AGE TELL AT SZÁZHALOMBATTA, HUNGARY

Summary.   At the Bronze Age tell of Százhalombatta, Hungary, techniques used for making pottery echo those used in other media. Pottery and architecture have a close relationship. Not only were both made of clay, but methods of making pots echo those used for building. Similarly, pottery and metalwork share common themes and technologies for working with clay and bronze. Since choices made by potters are not solely confined to the environment, raw materials and tools, but are also socially and culturally defined, by implication the transfer of know-how must be situated within social networks between people. This paper considers how the identification of technical relationships between different media at Százhalombatta can be used to explore social relations in Bronze Age society, thereby suggesting relationships that work on both technical and social levels.     

Histories of deposition: creating chronologies for the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition in Southern Britain

The Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age midden sites of Southern Britain are amongst the richest archaeological sites in the country. The organic accumulations contain substantial quantities of animal bone, decorated ceramics, metalwork and other objects; the often deep stratigraphy allows for changes in material culture and depositional practices, food production and consumption, and shifts in social identities, to be traced through time. The well-stratified assemblages also provide useful materials for dating the deposits. This has been problematic, however, as the majority of samples produce unhelpfully broad calibrated radiocarbon dates, due to the effects of the earlier Iron Age plateau in the calibration curve, which spans c. 800–400 BC. Interpretation has relied on current understandings of the associated pottery and metalwork, which placed most midden sites somewhere between the tenth and the seventh/mid-sixth centuries cal BC (c. 1000–600/550 cal BC), but the end-date of these traditions is particularly uncertain. This article addresses this issue by presenting the results of a new dating programme for East Chisenbury in Wiltshire, southern England. Twenty-eight radiocarbon determinations were obtained and combined with the site stratigraphy in a Bayesian chronological model. The results have transformed the chronology of the site, with the end of the occupation sequence being pulled forward some one-hundred years, to the mid-to-late fifth century cal BC. These new chronologies have significant implications for our understanding of the Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transition and require a revision of the currently accepted chronology of post-Deverel Rimbury decorated wares in south-central England.     

Context for a carnyx: excavation of a long-lived ritual site at Leitchestown,Deskford, Moray,north-east Scotland

Excavations at the findspot of the Deskford carnyx, a major piece of Iron Age decorated metalwork found in a bog in the early nineteenth century, revealed a special location with a long history. Early Neolithic activity on the adjacent ridge consisted of massive postholes and pits, suggesting a ceremonial site. An Early Bronze Age cremation became the focus for a feasting event in the Middle Bronze Age. Around this time, peat began to form in the valley, with vessels of pot and wood smashed and deposited there; these activities on ridge and bog may be connected. Activity in the bog intensified in the later Iron Age, when offerings included quartz pebbles, the dismantled carnyx head, and two unusual animal bone deposits. The ridge was cut off at this period by a complex enclosure system. This Iron Age activity is interpreted as communal rituals at a time of increasing social tension. The site’s significance in this period may stem from its unusual landscape character, with flowing water to one side and a bog to the other. The area saw occasional activity in the Early Medieval period, but its significance had waned.     

ANALYSIS OF LATE BRONZE AGE GLASS AXES FROM NIPPUR—A NEW COBALT COLOURANT

A multidisciplinary study of a unique group of Late Bronze Age (LBA) ceremonial glass axe heads and other artefacts shows that these are the first significant group of glasses coloured with cobalt to be identified from the Near East. The axes were excavated from the site of Nippur, in present‐day Iraq. Several are incised with the names of three kings, which dates the material to the 14th–13th centuries bc . Analysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA–ICPMS) indicates that the glass had high magnesia (MgO) and potash (K₂O) associated with a plant‐ash flux and was coloured blue by copper or a combination of copper and cobalt. These glasses are similar, but not identical, in major element composition to blue‐coloured glasses manufactured in ancient Egypt and elsewhere in Mesopotamia in the same period. However, the Nippur cobalt‐ and copper‐coloured glasses exhibit significantly different trace elemental compositions compared to Egyptian glass coloured with cobalt, showing that the ancient Near Eastern glassmakers had clearly identified and utilized a distinctive cobalt ore source for the colouring of this glass. Since it was previously thought that the only cobalt ores exploited in the LBA were exclusively of Egyptian origin, this new finding provides new insights on the origins of glass and how it was traded during the Bronze Age period.     

Did China Import Metals from Africa in the Bronze Age?

The origins of the copper, tin and lead for China's rich Bronze Age cultures are a major topic in archaeological research, with significant contributions being made by archaeological fieldwork, archaeometallurgical investigations and geochemical considerations. Here, we investigate a recent claim that the greater part of the Shang‐period metalwork was made using metals from Africa, imported together with the necessary know‐how to produce tin bronze. A brief review of the current status of lead isotopic study on Shang‐period bronze artefacts is provided first, clarifying a few key issues involved in this discussion. It is then shown that there is no archaeological or isotopic basis for bulk metal transfer between Africa and China during the Shang period, and that the copper and lead in Shang bronze with a strongly radiogenic signature is not likely to be from Africa. We call for collaborative interdisciplinary research to address the vexing question of the Shang period's metal sources, focusing on smelting sites in geologically defined potential source regions and casting workshops identified at a number of Shang settlements.     

Collapsing Commodities or Lavish Offerings? Understanding Massive Metalwork Deposition at Langton Matravers,Dorset During the Bronze Age–Iron Age Transition

The discovery of 373 intact and broken tin‐bronze socketed axes accompanied by 404 fragments in four pits at Langton Matravers collectively represents one of the largest hoards found to date in prehistoric Britain and Ireland. They were very probably never meant to be used as axes as the very high levels of tin they contain would have made them brittle. Many were poorly finished, with the majority still containing their casting cores. The axes are typologically dated to the Llyn Fawr metalwork phase (c.800–600 BC) and span the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition, when the production, circulation and deposition of bronze appear to have been substantially reduced throughout north‐west Europe. By placing the Langton Matravers hoard(s) in a broader metallurgical, material and archaeological context, existing theories for this phenomenon, such as the preference for iron, a collapse in bronze supply, or the sharp devaluation of a social or ritual ‘bronze standard’, are evaluated. It is proposed that the Langton Matravers axes belong to a short phase in the centuries‐long processes underlying the changing roles of bronze and iron.     

A re-assessment of bronze age wool

Measurements of twelve new samples of Danish Bronze Age wool showed them to be hairy medium fleeces. Supporting evidence was obtained that a high proportion of fine fibres in a yarn results from the plucking of wool during the moult before the hairy fibres have been released from the skin. The fine fibres were closer in diameter to the underwool of the wild ancestor than to those of the Soay sheep (supposedly a Bronze Age survivor), indicating a more primitive fleece. The samples described include the first white Bronze Age wool. Those with natural pigmentation in every fibre could be black or brown, while those with pigmented and white fibres are thought to be a mixture of brown and white (by analogy with the Soay) rather than grey, which is unknown in the Soay.     

‘Rid grasse of bones’: A taphonomic study of the bones from midden deposits at the Neolithic and Bronze age site of Runnymede,Surrey, England

Runnymede has large samples of Neolithic and Late Bronze Age animal bones, with contrasting preservation conditions in both periods. The bone evidence has been used to interpret the formation of the site deposits. There are few articulated bones, and no joins were found in butchered bone, indicating that the area studied did not contain primary refuse. Various aspects of bone alteration have been analysed: (i) the proportion of bones with very good surface preservation was high in the in situ Neolithic excavation units and the basal Bronze Age midden, but bones in the upper units were mostly eroded. These units are reworked flood deposits. The greater degree of fragmentation of the bone in the reworked units has been quantified, using a system of recording the ‘zones’ present on each bone, which allows calculation of the fraction present. It is also demonstrated that the reworked units contain a lower proportion of identified bones and a higher proportion of teeth and iaws than the units with well-preserved bone, (ii) Quantification of canid gnawing shows, unexpectedly, that more was recorded on well-preserved bone. Thus recognition of gnawing depends on bone condition. This also confirms that most of the erosion of the bone surface is a post-depositional phenomenon. The sequence of activities is therefore interpreted as follows: meat was cooked and consumed, and the bones discarded for the dogs. At a later stage, larger bones were picked up and thrown away in the river or midden. Some ethnographic examples of periodic cleaning of farming settlements are cited.     

Salt production in pre-Funan Vietnam: archaeomagnetic reorientation of briquetage fragments

Bronze to Iron Age briquetage found in the northern Mekong Delta has an appearance similar to analogous material from Europe and Asia; however, the orientation in which the briquetage was employed during the production of salt is still under debate. As a consequence of the heating and subsequent cooling of the briquetage during the evaporative recovery of salt, the magnetic mineral particles within the ceramic formed a stable thermoremanent magnetization in alignment with the Earth's magnetic field. It thus becomes possible to find the orientation in which the ceramics were last fired by aligning their recorded archaeomagnetic signal with estimates of the Earth's ancient field direction in Vietnam. The archaeomagnetic directions obtained from 22 samples taken from five different briquetage artefacts are somewhat scattered, but they reveal a consistent orientation and thus the mode in which the briquetage was employed can be reconstructed.     

THE ACEHÚCHE GOLD TORC: GOLD AND SACRED LAND ON THE SHORES OF THE TAGUS RIVER (CÁCERES,WESTERN SPAIN)

This article describes the important discovery of a Late Bronze Age gold torc that was unearthed in a field of Acehúche (Cáceres, Spain). It was buried underneath some rocks at a site near a river crossing over the Tagus river. In its immediate vicinity, archaeological remains dating from the Copper Age to the Late Bronze Age have been found, which indicates the long use of this crossing. Until recently here, there existed a ferry and a chapel; and the place went by the toponym of the Dehesa de San Cristóbal. Legend too has it that the water from the river had curative properties. All of these components have maintained the sacred nature of the spot, otherwise transformed over the course of time, and reflect an earlier sacred landscape with quite ancient roots.     

On the Book of Devotions,Deposited by Cardinal Howard in the Library of the Dominican Convent at Bornheim in 1659

This paper reports the results of the excavation of an Early Bronze Age cist cemetery on the mid-Northumberland coast at Howick. The Bronze Age site was discovered during the investigation of a Mesolithic hut site, the latter having been published separately as a monograph. A total of five cists were found with only one being adult-sized, the rest presumably for infants. Due to the acidic conditions on the site, only a few fragments of a small skull were found in Cist 2. Other small finds included a small sherd of Food Vessel urn in an area of disturbance next to Cist 5, smoothed limestone cobbles and some nodules of yellow ochre. Flints were found in most of the feature fills, but these are considered to be residual as they are directly comparable to the narrow blade material found within the Mesolithic hut and its environs. The siting of Early Bronze Age cist burials in coastal locations is thought to reflect contemporary settlement on the coastal margin and its hinterland. With no Bronze Age dwelling sites known from this area, these cemeteries have an added significance as they provide indirect evidence for Bronze Age settlement on the North-East coastal plain.     

THE LIFE OF BUILDINGS: MINOAN BUILDING DEPOSITS IN AN ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary. This paper discusses the interpretation of the objects deliberately hidden and sealed up in the structure of Minoan buildings. These building deposits are usually interpreted in terms of religion and ritual but this conventional view may actually be based on fallacious assumptions about the nature of human-environment relations in Bronze Age Crete. The present paper outlines an alternative ecological approach, which allows a degree of sociality between humans and non-human entities, and treats building deposits as an essentially practical means of manipulating the relations between humans and the (built) environment in situations of potential stress. It will be argued that buildings and other artefacts can, in some respects, be understood to live and grow similarly as organisms. Thus, in order to appreciate their significance, Minoan building deposits need to be related to the life-cycle of buildings.     

Sheep wool in Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe

This study presents the results of a series of wool measurements from Bronze Age and Iron Age skins and textiles from Hallstatt, and Bronze Age textiles from Scandinavia and the Balkans. A new method of classification that was set up and applied on mostly mineralised Iron Age material has now been applied to a large body of non-mineralised material from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Three types of microscopes were used and their advantages and disadvantages assessed. The results of the investigation cast new light on sheep breeding and fibre processing in prehistoric Europe, and suggest that different sheep breeds existed in Bronze Age Europe.