The Organisation and Practice of Metal Smithing in Later Bronze Age Europe

Journal of World Prehistory - During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500–800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet...     

Bell Beaker Communities in Thy: The First Bronze Age Society in Denmark

Lane Anderson Beck (ed.): Regional Approaches to Mortuary Analysis. (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology). Plenum Press, New York and London 1995. XIX + 280 pp., 60 figs. ISBN 0–306–44931–5 (hardback).

Sandra Billington and Miranda Green (eds): The Concept of the Goddess. Routledge, London, 1996. XIV + 192 pp. 26 figs. ISBN 0–4151421–3.     

The tale of the sword – swords and swordfighters in Bronze Age Europe

In this article it is demonstrated through empirical observation that Bronze Age swords were functional and efficient weapons. Their use in real combat is testified by recurring patterns of blade damage and resharpening. Furthermore, ritual depositions of swords with unrepaired scars on the blade demonstrate the prehistoric roots of the Celtic–Germanic–Greek ritual of sacrificing weapons after a victorious fight.     

Buccino: The Early Bronze Age Village of Tufariello

Abstract

The excavation of the Early Bronze Age village at Tufariello (Buccinno) in southern Italy represents a major archaeological advance in a little-known period of Italian prehistory in this region. The emphasis of the following report is in the integration of archaeological material, especially the statistical study of abundant pottery material from three distinct stratigraphic phases of the site, and the discussion of the unexpected rectangularly planned buildings of the site, with reports on evidence of flora and fauna. The result is the first synthetic view of the life of a southern Italian community of the end of the third millennium B.C.

The excavation has been the most recent phase of the exploration of this area undertaken since 1968 by Brown University in collaboration with the Superintendency of Antiquities of Salerno. This report is made up of the following sections.

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Introduction and Stratigraphy by R. Ross Holloway</list-item><list-item>

Architecture by Ned P. Nabers</list-item><list-item>

Pottery by Susan Snow Lukesh</list-item><list-item>

Stock Economy by Graeme Barker</list-item><list-item>

Stone and Bone Objects by Nicholas B. Hartmann</list-item><list-item>

Pottery Manufacture by Ethel R. Eaton</list-item><list-item>

Metal Tools by Hugh McKerrell and Ethel R. Eaton</list-item><list-item>

Vegetal Remains by William LaCroix Phippen</list-item><list-item>

Preliminary Geological Note by Giuseppe Leuci</list-item></list>     

The production of speiss (iron arsenide) during the Early Bronze Age in Iran

In this paper, analyses of some unusual slag samples from the prehistoric site of Tepe Hissar in northeastern Iran are presented. These slags are the remains of a five-thousand-year-old pyrotechnological process that produced speiss, a quasi-metallic material usually formed as an accidental by-product of copper or lead smelting. We argue that the “speiss slags” from Tepe Hissar suggest the intentional production of iron–arsenic alloy (“speiss”) in prehistory. Why the Tepe Hissar metalworkers produced speiss is a question that requires further investigation, but our preliminary assessment suggests that it was to provide arsenic as an alloying component for arsenical copper, the preferred copper alloy during much of the Early Bronze Age in Iran, and widely used across the ancient world. This recognition significantly advances our understanding of the early stages of metallurgy in the Old World.     

军事革命与欧洲在全球范围的崛起

由于异常激烈的生存竞争和有利于革新的思想文化背景,当世界其它地区军事上还在缓慢发展时,欧洲在14—17世纪发生了一系列军事革命,其军队在陆地和海上的作战能力得到了稳步提高。这使欧洲人在与世界其它地区的对抗中逐渐取得了越来越明显的军事优势。尽管欧洲的崛起是由政治、经济、军事、文化及社会等各个领域的许多复杂因素相互作用共同促成的,但在多数情况下军事优势是其征服过程中必不可少的条件。     

Painted plaster from Bronze Age Thebes, Boeotia (Greece): a technological study

From the rather difficult excavations that have taken place in Thebes since the beginning of the last century, many fragmentary but often well-preserved paintings on plaster have been unearthed. These belong to several contexts and periods: House of Kadmos (Late Helladic IIIA), Treasury Room (Late Helladic IIIB1) and Oikopedon Spourli (Late Helladic III). Their iconography, style and technology fit well with other paintings from the Late Bronze Age sites found in the vicinity of Thebes (e.g. Gla and Orchomenos). This paper presents a technological study of the Bronze Age painted plaster from Thebes, Greece. The paintings were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction; stereo, reflected light and scanning electron microscopy; some by laser-induced breakdown spectrometry and by micro-Raman spectroscopy, in order to identify the pigments and the composition of the plaster layers, and to determine the painting technique(s) that the artisans may have employed. The plaster layer onto which the paint layer was applied was often the only layer and consisted mainly of calcite, while a clay plaster formed the backing between the lime plaster coat and the actual wall surface. The pigments identified were: yellow ochre, haematite (red), cuprorivaite (Egyptian blue), indigo and possibly riebeckite for blue, charcoal (black), calcite (white), and a combination of black and red for purple. A detailed macroscopic study of the painted surface revealed several features, which indicated that the technique of al fresco painting was employed extensively, a technique already in use since the start of the Late Minoan I phase on Crete. A generally lower level of quality in the appearance of the later paintings (Treasury Room and Oikopedon Spourli) was also noted, but this was not reflected in the materials used or in their overall manipulation.     

Lithic technology and obsidian exchange networks in Bronze Age Nuragic Sardinia (Italy)

The study of the Sardinian Bronze Age (Nuragic period) and the factors which created and maintained an island-wide identity as seen through the presence of its distinctive nuraghi has received considerable attention; however, the amount of research directly related to the stone tools of the era has been relatively limited despite the wealth of knowledge it is capable of yielding. This research hopes to contribute to Sardinian archaeology through the study of ancient technology, specifically obsidian lithic technology, by combining typological information with source data gleaned from the use of portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. This research also explores temporal changes in the acquisition of obsidian raw materials and the corresponding changes in how the obsidian was used. The results provide precedence for future work in Sardinia and create a model for integrating two types of analyses, sourcing and typological. By combining these results, it is possible to investigate ancient economies, exchange networks, and cultural values.     

Bronze production in Southwestern Iberian Peninsula: the Late Bronze Age metallurgical workshop from Entre Águas 5 (Portugal)

Archaeological works at Entre Águas 5 (Portugal) uncovered a seasonal LBA settlement with significant metallurgical remains (crucibles, moulds, prills and a tuyere) related to bronze production. Radiocarbon dating ascribes an occupation period (10th–9th century BC) previous to Phoenician establishment in Southwestern Iberia. In spite of the proliferation of metal artefacts during LBA, the production of bronze alloys is still poorly understood. An integrated analytical approach (EDXRF, optical microscopy, SEM–EDS, micro-EDXRF and Vickers microhardness) was used to characterise this metallurgy. Crucibles show immature slags with copious copper nodules, displaying variable tin content (c. 0–26 wt.%), low iron amount (<0.05 wt.%) and different cooling rates. Certain evidences point to direct reduction of oxide copper ores with cassiterite. Scorched moulds with residues of copper and tin indicate local casting of artefacts. Finished artefacts also recovered at the site have an analogous composition (bronze with ∼10 wt.% Sn and low amounts of Pb, As and Fe) typical of coeval metallurgy in SW Iberia. Some artefacts reveal a relationship between typology and composition or manufacture: a higher tin content for a golden coloured ring or absence of the final hammering for a bracelet. An uncommon gilded nail (gold foil c. 140 μm thick; 11.6 wt.% Ag; ∼1 wt.% Cu) attests the existence of evolved prestige typologies. This LBA settlement discloses a domestic metallurgy whose main features are typical in Iberian Peninsula. Finally, it should be emphasized that a collection as comprehensive and representative of a single workshop has rarely been studied, enabling a deeper understanding of the various operations involving the bronze production and manufacture of artefacts.     

Exchange networks of the Early Bronze Age Gulf: The imported ceramics from Kalba 4 (United Arab Emirates)

Imported ceramics from Early Bronze Age contexts in southeast Arabia illustrate a complex multidirectional network of material and social interactions at this time. Significant socioeconomic changes that occurred in the Hafit (3200–2800 B.C.) and Umm an-Nar (2800–2000 B.C.) periods have been linked to external demand for copper, which is argued to have stimulated a change in subsistence patterns. Similarly, disruption to long-distance exchange networks by external factors has been cited as driving change at the end of the Umm an-Nar period. Archaeological evidence from the region suggests a shift in the direction of exchange from Mesopotamia to the Indus occurred around the middle of the third millennium B.C. However, a recent analysis of Mesopotamian historical sources has highlighted the scale of state-organised textile production for export to the lower Gulf in the later third millennium B.C. The site of Kalba 4 has a stratified sequence of occupation deposits dating from the Umm an-Nar and Iron Age (1300–300 B.C.). In this study, a typological analysis of imported ceramics is used to locate the Kalba in the chronological framework of the region and discuss the changing networks of long-distance exchange that were operating. The imported pottery at Kalba 4 indicates that the inhabitants of the site were exchanging goods with a range of polities, including southern Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley (Meluhha), southeast Iran (Marhashi) and Bahrain (Dilmun). A significant quantity of Late Akkadian ceramics at the site suggests it became an important location for Mesopotamian trade at this time.