The Earliest Balance Weights in the West: Towards an Independent Metrology for Bronze Age Europe

Nicola Ialongo

doi:10.1017/s0959774318000392

Abstract

Weighing devices are the earliest material correlates of the rational quantification of economic value, and they yield great potential in the study of trade in pre-literate societies. However, the knowledge of European Bronze Age metrology is still underdeveloped in comparison to Eastern Mediterranean regions, mostly due to the lack of a proper scientific debate. This paper introduces a theoretical and methodological framework for the study of standard weight-systems in pre-literate societies, and tests it on a large sample of potential balance weights distributed between Southern Italy and Central Europe during the Bronze Age (second–early first millenniumbc). A set of experimental expectations is defined on the basis of comparisons with ancient texts, archaeological cases and modern behaviour. Concurrent typological, use-wear, statistical and contextual analyses allow to cross-check the evidence against the expectations, and to validate the balance-weight hypothesis for the sample under analysis. The paper urges a reappraisal of an independent weight metrology for Bronze Age Europe, based on adequate methodologies and a critical perspective.

Highlights

The spread of weighing devices in pre-literate Bronze Age Europe (Fig. 1) is generally viewed as the technological correlate of a cognitive shift towards the rational quantification of economic value (Pare 2013; Peroni 2006; Rahmstorf 2010; Renfrew 2008)
Weighing equipment and weight systems are still poorly understood in the framework of Bronze Age Europe, outside of Greece
The perspective shifts slightly, if we look at a whole category of potential balance weights

Summary

Introduction

The spread of weighing devices in pre-literate Bronze Age Europe (Fig. 1) is generally viewed as the technological correlate of a cognitive shift towards the rational quantification of economic value (Pare 2013; Peroni 2006; Rahmstorf 2010; Renfrew 2008). Whereas the origin of weight-systems is intimately correlated to the need of calculating incomes and expenditures, negotiating purchase-prices and assessing profit (Powell 1977; 1996), the very existence of a weight-based exchange presupposes ‘some generally accepted index of value together with a certain amount of haggling over price’ (Powell 1979, 89), regardless of whether it is based on currency or barter. The main obstacle is represented by the lack of focus on methodologies that allow us to quantify confidence of the positive identification of potential balance weights in pre-literate societies. Starting from the most relevant literature in the field, this article outlines an extensive theoretical and methodological framework—based on testable hypotheses, reproducible experiments and clear expectations for experimental results—and tests it on a large sample collected from a vast territory, spanning southern Italy, central Europe and the Atlantic façade

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion