Points and convergent tools in the European Early Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (SE,France)

The lithic assemblage from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (Rhone Valley, France) contains a large number of convergent tools and pointed tools of various shapes, sizes and retouch types. These were excavated from several archaeological units, dating from marine isotopic stages 8–5, which also yielded human skeletal remains. Consideration of this large tool kit has led to an improved analysis of Middle Palaeolithic tools with two retouched convergent edges. The 350 tools were not described within the classical typological framework, but, rather, from a lithic technological perspective in relation to a discoid debitage. In addition, an initial macroscopic use-wear analysis aided in establishing whether they were used according to their technical and/or morphological features. The Middle Palaeolithic convergent tools from Payre are shown to be quite diversified, and the question of the significance of the retouch and the definition of the various types is addressed. Initial functional results indicate that a clear relationship between shape and function cannot be easily established, and that these tools were used as hand tools. This study contributes to the debate on the use of stone tip spears in the Early European Middle Palaeolithic.     

Rediscovering famous assemblages: A rare Bronze Age crucible from El Argar,Spain

A rare open shallow crucible from the British Museum collection, excavated at the Bronze Age site of El Argar in south-east Spain by Louis and Henri Siret, was studied using X-radiography and scanning electron microscopy. The crucible has relatively thick walls, a spout and a non-refractory fabric. It was used for melting copper alloys for various possible purposes, such as alloying, refining, recycling or before casting, at around 1100°C. Both arsenic and tin were detected in various places and concentrations in the analysed specimens. This crucible could have been used during the period of transition from arsenic-rich copper to tin bronzes in the El Argar culture, or used for the recycling of arsenic-rich copper artefacts being alloyed with tin to produce tin bronzes. This melting crucible is a rare example of its kind to have been investigated scientifically, as most crucibles from contemporary sites on the Iberian Peninsula are generally associated with smelting. This study has also crucially shed more light on the types of alloys and variety of activities undertaken during that transitional period between the use of arsenical copper and tin bronzes in this region.     

Paper 1: The Coudenberg Archaeological Site in Brussels: The Stakeholders Involved in the Renovation Process

Abstract

The last material evidence of the former Palace of Brussels, the Coudenberg archaeological site, is situated at the heart of the city, constitutes a remarkable part of its heritage, and has been listed as a legally protected monument. Following the redevelopment of the Royal Quarter in the eighteenth century, the successive archaeological discoveries of the last twenty-five years, and the progressive growth of the areas accessible to the public, the various components of the site have not all been preserved in the same condition. The work involved in developing such a complex has already necessitated considerable resources, and still requires more today. The owners, the City of Brussels and the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the site’s managers, the not-for-profit association ‘Palais de Charles Quint’, are continuing their programme of developing, promoting, and preserving the remains in order to hand down this important historical evidence to future generations.     

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.