Archaeological material dating to the Bronze Age (BA) suggest that violence was a reoccurring phenomenon in the period. This evidence includes the amass deposition in hoards of the newly emerged...Show moreArchaeological material dating to the Bronze Age (BA) suggest that violence was a reoccurring phenomenon in the period. This evidence includes the amass deposition in hoards of the newly emerged bronze weapons. Brück and Fontijn (2013) have explained this deposition as reflecting the end of the life-path of bronze objects. They assume that object during the BA were imbued with power and meaning through the actions done with the object, i.e. its life-history. Through the interaction between objects and individuals, the social fabric of the BA was formed. This model explains the selective depositions of bronze objects, but it does not delineate why precisely weapons were deposited. While weapons have a clear social context where they could have derived meaning and power from, in the form of combat. Therefore, within this thesis the intended combative use of bronze weapons is explored, in particular bronze spears, in order to examine if a specif type of combat could have imbued bronze weapons with meaning. One of the martial contexts were bronze spears could have been used in is formalised combats. These are combats fought with highly specific norms, called combat capital, for a large array of socio-political and -cultural reasons, named societal capital. Formalised fights act as a safe and controlled manner of violence expression in society. The highly specific combat capital with which the fights are fought, manifest itself in various combat styles that can be linked to a weapon design. The two primary combat styles are binding, whereby contact between the weapons of two fighters is continuously maintained to feel the actions of an opponent, and striking, whereby hitting an opponents weapon is used as the manner for gaining control. Binding is more associated with formalised combat, due to necessity of only combating one opponent, while striking combat can be used in all types of combat. In order to examine for which combat style bronze spears were intended for, a weapons design analysis (WDA) method was used. This method analysis weapons according to five elements, to form a framework of limitations wherein the weapon could have been used. This WDA relies on a different epistemic dimension than conscious deliberation. A knowledge dimensions that is largely unconscious and comes to individuals as feelings and sensations. The WDA thus must be performed by expert-users, that pose a minimum level of skill, i.e. knowledge, in this unconscious dimensions. A WDA, composing of four phenomenological archaeological experiments, was performed by two expert users on two replica bronze spears to gain insight into the combative use of BA spears in general. This WDA concluded, especially based on damage sustained by the spears during the experiments, that bronze spears were probably primarily intended for formalised fights, but with the potential to be used for other martial contexts. Other weapons, however, were probably more optimised 122 for these other types of fights. These formalised fights could have been one of the events wherein the social fabric of Bronze Age society was negotiated, and weapon could procure their power and meaning from.Show less
In 2015 Earle et al. published a paper on metal trade and its correlation to the proliferation of the elite in Europe during the Bronze Age. Earle et al. pose that deposits of metal, in the form of...Show moreIn 2015 Earle et al. published a paper on metal trade and its correlation to the proliferation of the elite in Europe during the Bronze Age. Earle et al. pose that deposits of metal, in the form of hoards and burials, correlate with bottlenecks in these supra-regional trading networks (Earle et al. 2015, 639). Social stratification would emerge when one was able to control the trading route of bronze or the commodities exchanged for bronze (Earle et al. 2015, 634). The research question of this thesis is therefore: What is the contribution of the model of Earle et al. (2015) to the investigation on how metal exchange, modelled through metal finds, informs on elite proliferation during the Bronze Age. This thesis scrutinizes the model of Earle et al. by analysing metal finds and their distribution across various case studies spread over Europe during the Early- and Middle Bronze Age. The research focuses on testing whether the distribution of metal finds follows the characteristics of Earle et al. (2015) theory. This study combines finds from several catalogues and articles to provide an unprecedented overview of the archaeological record of more than 25.000 finds found between almost 900 sites spread over Brittany (France), Carpathian Basin (Hungary), Thisted Amt (Denmark), the coast of Holland, and West-Frisia (The Netherlands). The investigation within this thesis showed that only one out of the six bottlenecks proposed by Earle et al. were fit for further investigation. The research into this bottleneck revealed that metal deposits were not preferentially associated with this bottleneck and that it contained a circular argument. The investigation also found a plethora of fallacies within the model of Earle et al. (2015). The conclusion of this thesis is therefore that the model of Earle et al. does not contribute much to the investigation on how metal exchange, modelled through metal finds, informs on elite proliferation during the Bronze Age. The main reason for this is the inability of the model to be checked, or used to predict, observations within the archaeological record. The model of Earle et al. does not contribute any analytical tools to research metal deposits and their perceived association with the proliferation of the elite in the Bronze Age.Show less
Metal artefacts are important for archaeology, as the archaeological information that can derive from thorough analysis of these, can be very helpful in understanding the past. Ranging from...Show moreMetal artefacts are important for archaeology, as the archaeological information that can derive from thorough analysis of these, can be very helpful in understanding the past. Ranging from creating a greater understanding of communities through bronze age depositions via the trade networks of post medieval Europe by looking at the distribution of lead cloth seals. Metal artefacts are an extremely important category of finds and must therefore never be looked down upon. It is simply unaffordable to exclude these artefacts from investigations and reports and neither can their importance for the public be neglected. However, the best way of retrieving these precious artefacts, by means of metal detection, is neglected on many excavations and if applied, metal detection only plays a minor role. In this thesis, it is hypothesized that the Dutch field archaeology does not make optimal use of the possibilities of metal detection. To prove this theory, three different areas have been chosen first: sandy soils, clay soils and urban sites. Of all three areas, a sample of three excavations has been taken to investigate how metal detection has been applied on these excavations. By eventually sampling nine excavations where metal detection has been applied, it has been investigated if archaeology is indeed behind in the field of metal detection and if recommendations need to be given. For all three areas, good and bad points have been discussed. The results for sandy soils seem to be the most dreadful, as there is much room for improvement. Especially a systematic approach is still needed on these soils. Excavations on clay soils on the other hand, seem to have incorporated a systematic approach better than on sandy soils. However, as this approach has not been applied to all aspects of the excavations, there is more to be gained from these soils as well. Lastly, the systematic way of applying metal detection on urban sites seems to have been done in a proper way. However, as on the sampled excavations, metal detectors have not been equipped with smaller coils, it seems that many artefacts might have been lost by not doing so. Thus, also on urban sites more knowledge is needed. Moreover, the reports of most excavations lack the right details regarding metal detection and are therefore in need of improvements as well. In conclusion, one can say that the hypothesis has been proven right. Solutions for this problem have been given in the form of several different recommendations, which, if followed, can change the future for Dutch field archaeology, as many more metal artefacts will certainly be retrieved. Hopefully, this thesis will lead to new insights about incorporating metal detection on excavations in the Netherlands. In the near future, perhaps more metal artefacts will therefore be unearthed and in their turn lead to new discoveries about the material culture of societies in the metal ages and beyond.Show less
