European Bronze Age Research Articles

Evaluating Cultural Transmission in Bronze Age burial rites of Central, Northern and Northwestern Europe using radiocarbon data

European Bronze Age archaeology traditionally focusses on two major dimensions to categorise burials – although there is an immense variability of attendant phenomena within this spectrum – flat graves versus burial mounds and cremation versus inhumation. These traits are an indispensable ingredient for common archaeological narratives of sociocultural interaction and cultural evolution. This article presents a quantitative reconstruction of the general trends in the distribution of Bronze Age burial traditions based on bulk radiocarbon data and employs the resulting time series for the estimation of macro-regional cultural distance. Despite the relatively small amount of input data, the trend reconstruction fits to established archaeological observations for prehistoric Europe. The comparison of cultural and spatial distance leads to the remarkable result of no significant permanent correlation, which indicates that the spread of the relevant aspects of burial traditions cannot be explained with simple diffusion models. Instead, a more complex process of cultural transmission has to be considered.

Crops along the trade routes? Archaeobotany of the Bronze Age in the region of South Bohemia (Czech Republic) in context with longer distance trade and exchange networks

The number of species of crop plants in Central Europe increased constantly during the Bronze Age. The structure of the composition of cultivated plants was probably connected to the cultural contacts of human populations. During the Bronze Age (2300/2000–800 BC), the region of South Bohemia (Czech Republic) increasingly became the focus of long-distance trade and exchange networks with regions to the east and many other regions (the Eastern Alps, the Alpine Foreland, the central lowlands of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Western Slovakia). The aim of the paper is to examine archaeobotanical assemblages of charred plant remains to see if these changes within Bronze Age societies, and their spheres of interaction, are also recorded within their agricultural practices. In particular, the importance of specific individual crop species can be reflected in the study region in comparison with other individual regions of Central Europe. Humans in the region of South Bohemia had more connections with the Eastern Alps and the Alpine Foreland region during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages. Regarding the structure of crop species, the composition of sub/dominant crops in South Bohemia and the Eastern Alps and the Alpine Foreland had many similarities. The cultural trajectory of the human populations of the South Bohemian region changed substantially in the Late and Final Bronze Ages: intensive contacts are documented, primarily with the region of Central Bohemia. This is reflected in the composition of the sub/dominant crops in South Bohemia, which shows many similarities to the other regions of the Czech Republic. Changes in migration and exchange networks—in particular those that involved more formalised trade—are associated with a large number of innovations and specific goods and led to much wider levels of cultural and social integration within Bronze Age Europe than had been previously seen.

Moving metals IV: Swords, metal sources and trade networks in Bronze Age Europe

European Bronze Age swords had high functional and symbolic value, and therefore they are an interesting case for approaching questions of provenance and trade in Bronze Age Europe. It is often assumed that there is a strong affinity between metal supplies and artefact type. However, this study demonstrates that metal supply and sword types are mostly unrelated. In this paper we present a comparative provenance study of 118 Bronze Age swords, which includes lead isotope and trace elemental data for swords from Scandinavia, Germany and Italy dated between 1600 and 1100 BCE. About 70% of the swords have been analysed and published before while about 30% have been sampled and analysed for this study. The chronology and geography of the deposited swords indicate that the different regions relied on different metal trade routes which changed during the course of the Bronze Age. The analytical data indicates that the largest variation of the origin of copper is in the period of 1600–1500 BCE, when copper ores from Wales, Austria and Slovakia constituted the major copper sources for the swords. There is a visible change around 1500 BCE, when copper mines in the Italian Alps become the main suppliers for Scandinavian and Italian swords, while swords from Germany were foremost based on copper from Slovakia and Austria. Further, in the period 1300–1100 BCE the sources in the Italian Alps became the dominant supplier of copper for the swords in all regions discussed here.

3. Personal Relationships between Co-buried Individuals in the Central European Early Bronze Age

People were usually buried in single, individual graves in Early Bronze Age Austria and the surrounding areas, but there are some exceptions. In burials of two or more people, it is often the way that bodies were placed in relation to each other that suggests familiarity, if not family. This paper reviews the social relations expressed through co-burials, and aims to better understand relationships between couples, siblings, or parents and children. The chapter particularly highlights mother-child relationships and presents graves of pregnant women and graves of women and children buried together, in order to understand how such individuals were treated by their societies in death. Ages and age gaps between co-buried individuals reveal the most likely ages for life-transitions such as first motherhood and the addition of new family members. The analysis compares evidence from two different, but contemporary cultural groups (Únětice and Unterwölbing) to shed light on prehistoric gender relations, family structures and social organisation through the lens of the burial record.

Anatomy of a notch. An in-depth experimental investigation and interpretation of combat traces on Bronze Age swords

Weaponry is one of the most widespread categories of metalwork from the European Bronze Age. Different lines of evidence point out that violent encounters and martial values played a significant role both in communities' lives and ideologies. Hence, reconstructing the practices surrounding Bronze Age weaponry is pivotal for the understanding of many aspects of coeval societies. Nevertheless, the study of the functionality and use-life of such items has developed rather late compared to other categories of objects (e.g. flint implements). Currently, experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis concerning metalwork are facing the challenge of leaving the stage of ‘infancy’ to become fully developed fields of study. This paper aims at contributing to such a development by illustrating the potential and the results of an experimental framework for the investigation of combat with bronze weaponry (swords in this paper) which offers a viable compromise between actualism and variable control. We provide an in-depth account of the results by describing both the morphology and the formation mechanics of the features obtained supported by extensive photographic documentation. Furthermore, we discuss our observations regarding the relationship between specific combat movements and the type of marks produced on weapons. Finally, the results of a pilot use-wear study on Bronze Age swords are presented in order to assess the validity of our approach.

Are tin oxides inclusions in early archaeological bronzes a marker of metal recycling?

Bronze artifacts from Early Bronze Age in Europe often contain white inclusions in the metallic matrix, that are identified as tin oxides (SnO2 or Cassiterite). These inclusions are interpreted as un-smelted residues coming from the copper ore and are generally mixed with more complex oxidized inclusions, which contain sulfur, antimony, arsenic, silver, nickel and cobalt. The nature, shape and distribution of these partially smelted tin inclusions give information on the alloying process. Depending on the technological context and the geographical areas, the presence of such inclusions might indicate that the material has been produced by selecting and supplementing of raw materials containing SnO2 (e.g. co-smelting). In order to understand the role of tin oxide inclusions in the production of bronzes and possible recycling procedures, a crosscutting investigation has been carried out, based on experimental researches. The results show that tin oxides do not completely reduce after four re-melting cycles (recycling) and such a fact is deeply related to the oxygen availability and the dwell time that influences the kinetics of the reaction.

Branded Axes, Thrown into a Pool? The Hoogeloon Hoard and the Shape‐Based Bronze Economy of the North‐West European Bronze Age

SummaryOne of the biggest challenges for students of the European Bronze Age is to understand the reason behind the massive deposition of large amounts of recyclable metal in non‐metalliferous regions. Such depositions are particularly puzzling when material was buried in a manner which directly seems to denote trade itself, in so‐called ‘trade hoards’. Based on observations on a recent find of such a hoard, in Hoogeloon (NL), we move to an overview of Bronze Age metalwork economy in general and the deposition of trade stock in particular. We argue that Middle Bronze Age metalwork circulation in North‐west Europe may be understood as an aes formatum system, with the serially produced axes in hoards displaying a koiné having a particular social evaluation: a ‘brand’. We suggest that objects were selected by brands for their deposition in the landscape and that this ‘ritual’ act was integral to the ‘practical’ economy of circulation.

Tradition and Innovation in Textile Technology in Bronze Age Europe and the Mediterranean

The papers collected in the present volume of the ‘Światowit’ journal examine developments in textile production in Bronze and Iron Age Europe and the Mediterranean by tracing both traditional and innovative elements in textile technology. The issue comprises 11 original contributions that resulted from the session ‘Tradition and Innovation in Textile Technology in Bronze Age Europe and the Mediterranean’ organised in 2016 by Agata Ulanowska and Małgorzata Siennicka during the 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Vilnius. The papers discuss available archaeological evidence of textiles, textile imprints, textile tools and textile iconography, as well as botanical and faunal remains related to textile manufacture and dyeing. The papers examine the types of social relations and cultural and economic processes which may have enhanced developments in textile technology and impacted on cross-cultural transmission of textile knowledge and skills in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Wool Economy During the European Bronze Age

A number of studies over the last decades have considerably increased our knowledge about production and trade of woollen textiles during the Bronze Age in the Near East, the Aegean, and continental Europe. In the wider Mediterranean area, thanks to the abundance of available evidence, it has been possible to use the concept of wool economy as a frame of reference to define the complex mechanisms behind production and trade of wool. The main aim of this paper is to reflect upon using the concept of wool economy to enhance our understanding of the relevant archaeological evidence from Bronze Age continental Europe.

The moulds from Velebit and European bronze age metal anvils

During the first excavations of the cemetery dating from the Bronze Age and Early Antiquity in the village of Velebit near Kanjiza (Northern Serbia) one of the excavated artefacts was found to belong to a used and broken stone mould for casting anvils. However, without an expert archaeologist to supervise the recovery of this find, which remained unknown for decades after its discovery, as a starting point, the authors of this article present a synthesis that takes into account several aspects of this significant class of metalcraft object. This proceeds from the history of the excavation to the general role of European Bronze Age anvils in gold and bronze metalworking, and then further on to their typological, terminological, chronological and functional analysis and to their long-range distribution as a sign of an interregional network of craftsmen, including their social context and symbolism.

Looking Sharp. Dutch Bronze Age razors and tweezers in context

Discussions on the presence, nature and apparel of (presumed) European Bronze Age warriors has traditionally focused on weapon graves, armour and rock art – the latter two regrettably absent in the Low Countries. This means that for this area, warrior identities need to be reconstructed on the basis of funerary assemblages that may even lack actual weapons. Since Paul Treherne’s seminal (1995) paper, particularly razors and tweezers have been recognized as reflecting the personal care typical of the warrior life-style. In this paper, Bronze Age and Early Iron Age razors and tweezers from the Netherlands are discussed as part of their wider West-European distribution. Razors of different shapes (pegged, tanged, symmetrical and asymmetrical) can be shown to date to different phases in the period of c. 1600 – 600 BC. Moreover, in variations in handle and blade shape, regional groups and supra-regional contact networks can be identified. Tweezers too show ample diachronic and regional variations: in addition to presumably local types, Nordic and Hallstatt imports are discernible. Razors and tweezers were part of toilet sets that differed in meaning and composition within the time-frame of 1600-600 BC. We argue that the short-hafted awls frequently found in association may represent tattooing needles. In the Hallstatt period, nail-cutters and ear-scoops complement the set (now often suspended from a ring and worn in leather pouches closed with rings or beads).Contextual analysis of the objects shows that razors could be placed in hoards, yet most originate from graves. Several urnfield razors (and some tweezers) originate from funerary monuments that must have stood out for their age, shape or dimensions (e.g. older tombs, long-bed barrows), hinting at a special status for those interred with the toilet sets. Remarkably, the association of razors and tweezers with weapons is infrequent for the Low Countries during most phases of the Bronze Age. Associations with swords are limited to the Ploughrescant-Ommerschans dagger from the famous Ommerschans hoard and the Gündlingen sword from the Oss chieftain’s grave. This means that in the Low Countries, a pars-pro-toto approach to the expression of warrior identity prevailed – one in which the interment of toilet sets instrumental to the expression of warrior identity took precedence over the interment of weaponry.

Bronze Age Textile & Wool Economy: The Case of the Terramare Site of Montale, Italy

At the onset of the 2nd millenniumbc, a wool economy emerged across continental Europe. Archaeological, iconographical, and written sources from the Near East and the Aegean show that a Bronze Age wool economy involved considerable specialised labour and large scale animal husbandry. Resting only on archaeological evidence, detailed knowledge of wool economies in Bronze Age Europe has been limited, but recent investigations at the Terramare site of Montale, in northern Italy, document a high density of spindle whorls that strongly supports the existence of village-level specialised manufacture of yarn. Production does not appear to have been attached to an emerging elite nor was it fully independent of social constraints. We propose that, although probably managed by local elites, wool production was a community-based endeavour oriented towards exports aimed at obtaining locally unavailable raw materials and goods.

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

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.

Diachronic variation in secondary burial practices in Bronze and Iron Age Moravia

The transition from inhumation to cremation is a well-documented phenomenon in Bronze Age Central Europe. However, almost nothing is known about similar transitions taking place in other mortuary practices, such as secondary burials. This study brings new insights into diachronic trends in secondary burials during the Central European Bronze and Iron Age. Diachronic trends in secondary burials are defined here by different kinds of excarnation. The type of excarnation was observed in 23 secondary burials dating to the Early Bronze Age and the turn of the Late Bronze to Early Iron Age at five sites in Moravia (Czech Republic). Osteological and taphonomic assessment of unburned human bones recovered from settlement contexts indicates a changing pattern of secondary burial practice over time. Early Bronze Age human remains bear traces of both passive excarnation by natural agents, such as exposure to carnivores, and excarnation by primary burial. By the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age secondary burials show evidence of excarnation with tools. This modification of secondary burial practices, may be connected with a contemporaneous change of primary burial practices from inhumation to cremation.

Copper ingots from a probable Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Salcombe, Devon: Composition and microstructure

The seabed site of a probable Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Salcombe in south-west England was explored between 1977 and 1982 and from 2004 onwards. Nearly 400 objects including copper and tin ingots, bronze artefacts/fragments and gold ornaments were found, typologically dating either to c. 1300–1150 BC or 1000–800 BC. The 280 copper and 40 tin plano-convex ingots and ingot fragments represent the largest discovery, measured by total weight as well as by quantity, of plano-convex or bun ingots in northwest Europe. The Salcombe copper ingots provided a wonderful opportunity for the technical study of copper ingots in a probable shipwreck context, as opposed to terrestrial contexts of deliberate deposition. The chemical composition of 25 plano-convex copper ingots was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Two artefacts from the site were also analysed for comparison with the ingots. Following the compositional analysis, a microstructural study was carried out on ten Salcombe copper ingots selected to cover those with different sizes, shapes and variable impurity levels using metallography and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS).All the analysed copper ingots are of unalloyed copper with low levels of impurities. Sulphide inclusions are present in all samples and bulk sulphur contents are of 0.32–0.79% in the ingots but lower in the artefacts. The Salcombe ingots were found to have a quite similar impurity pattern to the Hertford Heath (England) ingots (except for iron content). They are distinctly different from the Uluburun ingots, and, to a lesser degree, from Sardinian ingots. The results are inconclusive as to how the Salcombe ingots were made. On the one hand, the very low concentration of iron and the absence of cuprite inclusions suggest that the ingots were primary smelting products of the primitive smelting process rather than produced from re-melting or refining of primary smelting lumps. On the other hand, the dense metal with very low porosity suggests the product of refining and re-casting operations under reducing conditions. However, the small ingots are not likely to have resulted from breaking of large ingots. The chemical compositions of the Salcombe ingots point to British or Western European sources although the connection with other regions cannot be excluded for some of the ingots. Further studies including lead isotope analysis are needed to address the question of provenance of the copper ingots, which would contribute to the re-emerging debates surrounding the European Bronze Age metal trade.

Re-analysis of Whole Genome Sequence Data From 279 Ancient Eurasians Reveals Substantial Ancestral Heterogeneity

Supervised clustering or projection analysis is a staple technique in population genetic analysis. The utility of this technique depends critically on the reference panel. The most commonly used reference panel in the analysis of ancient DNA to date is based on the Human Origins array. We previously described a larger reference panel that captures more ancestries on the global level. Here, I reanalyzed DNA data from 279 ancient Eurasians using our reference panel. I found substantially more ancestral heterogeneity than has been reported. Reanalysis provides evidence against a resurgence of Western hunter-gatherer ancestry in the Middle to Late Neolithic and evidence for a common ancestor of farmers characterized by Western Asian ancestry, a transition of the spread of agriculture from demic to cultural diffusion, at least two migrations between the Pontic-Caspian steppes and Bronze Age Europe, and a sub-Saharan African component in Natufians that localizes to present-day southern Ethiopia.

The Provenance, Use, and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The State of Debate

Bronze is the defining metal of the European Bronze Age and has been at the center of archaeological and science-based research for well over a century. Archaeometallurgical studies have largely focused on determining the geological origin of the constituent metals, copper and tin, and their movement from producer to consumer sites. More recently, the effects of recycling, both temporal and spatial, on the composition of the circulating metal stock have received much attention. Also, discussions of the value and perception of bronze, both as individual objects and as hoarded material, continue to be the focus of scholarly debate. Here, we bring together the sometimes-diverging views of several research groups on these topics in an attempt to find common ground and set out the major directions of the debate, for the benefit of future research. The paper discusses how to determine and interpret the geological provenance of new metal entering the system; the circulation of extant metal across time and space, and how this is seen in changing compositional signatures; and some economic aspects of metal production. These include the role of metal-producing communities within larger economic settings, quantifying the amount of metal present at any one time within a society, and aspects of hoarding, a distinctive European phenomenon that is less prevalent in the Middle Eastern and Asian Bronze Age societies.

From 3D Scans to Networks: Using Swords to Understand Communities of Central European Bronze Age Smiths

Abstract This case study uses 3D scans of Central European Bronze Age swords (~1400-800BC) to recreate community networks of knowledge. 3D scans of 111 bronze swords were analyzed, from which measurements including blade profile, hilt profile, and decorative shape data were collected. The data were analyzed using a variety of statistical methods. Cluster analysis was used to create links between the nodes of networks that were modelled. A community detection algorithm was run on the networks to examine potential communities of bronze smiths based on theorized manufacturing decisions. These analyses suggest there were four distinct areas within which craft workers were sharing knowledge.

Comparison of obsidian and chert consumption during the Middle Helladic at Kirrha, Phocis, Greece

Lithic artifacts were still in use in Bronze Age Europe, in spite of the emergence of a new technology, namely metallurgy, during this period. In fact, stone technology continued to be used everywhere until at least the end of the Early Bronze Age, and even until the end of the Late Bronze Age in specific areas. This is especially true for Greece where lithic raw material and/or tool networks were still operating during the whole Bronze Age. During the Middle Bronze Age in mainland Greece, obsidian and high-quality chert were still widely used, especially in settlements. This raises the question of the necessity of the use of obsidian instead of a stronger or more versatile material (chert or metal). Why was volcanic glass, which required considerable investment in terms of know-how and long-distance transportation, still used in spite of the technological context (where metallurgy was already developed)? The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this debate through the use-wear analysis of obsidian tools. Artifacts from settlement levels of the Middle Helladic site of Kirrha (Phocis, Greece) have been examined. In this domestic-use context, bronze and chert were also found. The main results of this study show an exclusive form and use of obsidian: bladelets were used for cutting soft and siliceous plant matter, with the exception of Graminae harvesting activity. These results point to the specialization of the lithic industry in terms of raw materials, where sharp obsidian artefacts were employed for cutting of soft and flexible materials, depending on the relative brittleness of the rock, at least at Kirrha. Thus, among the numerous propositions concerning continued obsidian circulation during the entire Bronze Age, a functional use (at least) could be proven, if this observation is also made elsewhere in Greece.

Происхождение и семантика фигурных пряжек эпохи бронзы в Европе и на Кавказе в контексте ближневосточных влияний

Происхождение и семантика фигурных пряжек эпохи бронзы в Европе и на Кавказе в контексте ближневосточных влияний