The Emergence and Transmission of Metallurgical Technology for Subsistence Activities in Daily Life in Northern Europe: A Microscopic Zooarchaeological Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT The origin of metallurgy is usually monitored via the appearance and frequency of various types of metal items. Quantifying the distribution of metal versus stone tool types over time and space can provide insight into the processes underlying the introduction and diffusion of a functional metallurgical technology for subsistence activities, but is a very limited approach. By quantifying the relative frequency of metal versus stone tool slicing cut marks in butchered animal bone assemblages, it becomes possible to identify and map the introduction and spread of metallurgy into and across a region. Prehistoric data from central Poland (from the Early Neolithic, ca. 5400 b.c., through the Early Iron Age, ca. 450 b.c.) are used to calculate the frequency of use and relative importance of stone and metal implements over time. The results clearly demonstrate that metal tools are adopted slowly throughout the entire length of the Bronze Age and that the advent of the Bronze Age did not entail the wholesale disappearance of lithics for butchering animals.