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

Abstract

During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500–800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet there remains a significant imbalance between the vast number of finished artefacts that survive and the evidence for where, how, and by whom they were produced. At the centre of these questions is the metal smith, who has been variously regarded in scholarship as nomadic, a reviled outsider, elite in status, a mediator of wealth, a shaman or a proto-scientist. In most cases, however, the social role of the smith is seen as central to the functioning of Bronze Age societies This paper provides a new cross-regional study that evaluates current theoretical paradigms in the light of empirical evidence. It does this through contextual analyses of metalworking traces, focussing on case studies primarily from Atlantic, Nordic, Urnfield and Balkan regions of Europe. Our work breaks down the production cycle into various practical steps, and the material evidence for each step is evaluated. This enables similarities and differences on the broader European scale to be identified and discussed. Through this, our aim is to better characterise the modes of participation in smithing and the identities of those involved, and consequently to improve our understanding of the material patterns related to smithing activities that occur archaeologically. These patterns range from discard or deposition at settlements, the construction of identity in mortuary practice, technological choices in alloy design and treatment, and the quality of finished metalwork objects. Concerning the question of the single smith, it is argued that the material evidence in many regions indicates that metalworking was more broadly embedded in society; this might be through cross-craft interaction, the location of metalworking activities, and the reuse of casting debris and moulds. We argue that crafting metal was a commonplace and socially visible activity, which was in many regions a venue for enhancing social integration and stability.