scholarly journals An Early Bronze Age Burial with a Golden Spiral Ring from Ammerbuch-Reusten, Southwestern Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raiko Krauß ◽  
Lea Breuer ◽  
Simone Korolnik ◽  
Ernst Pernicka ◽  
Birgit Schorer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Precious Metal ◽  
Gold Wire ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Trace Element Pattern ◽  
Small Series ◽  
Element Pattern ◽  
Hilltop Settlement

Abstract A women’s burial of the Early Bronze Age that was uncovered near Ammerbuch-Reusten, Tübingen district in autumn 2020 shows clear relations to burial rites of the Final Neolithic in central Europe. The only grave good was in the rear of the burial. A small spiral ring made of gold wire at the left side of the burial at hip level, which can be considered to be the earliest securely dated precious metal find in southwestern Germany. The find fits into a small series of early spiral rings made of gold wire, which are among the oldest precious metal finds in central Europe. Its composition with c. 20 % silver and less than 2 % copper as well as traces of platinum and tin indicates the use of a naturally occurring gold alloy, most likely from so-called alluvial deposits obtained by panning from rivers. The trace element pattern strongly suggests that this type of gold derives from Cornwall, specifically from River Carnon. The burial matches a group of other burials from the Bronze Age on the plateau and is apparently related to a hilltop settlement on the nearby Kirchberg of Reusten.

A Non-local Source of Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Gold

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 149-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Standish ◽  
Bruno Dhuime ◽  
Chris J. Hawkesworth ◽  
Alistair W. G. Pike
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Lead Isotope ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Study Region ◽  
South West

Lead isotope analyses of 50 Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age gold artefacts favour a gold source in southern Ireland. However when combined with major element analysis, the artefacts are not consistent with any Irish gold deposit analysed to date. Understanding the lead isotope signatures of ore deposits within a study region allows informed inferences to be drawn regarding the likelihood that an unanalysed ore deposit was exploited in the past. If an Irish gold source is assumed, then the gold is most likely to have originated from deposits hosted by Old Red Sandstone in the Variscan ore field of south-west Ireland. However, based on our current understanding of mineralisation in the region, this scenario is considered unlikely. A non-Irish source for the gold is therefore preferred – a scenario that may favour cosmologically-driven acquisition, ie, the deliberate procurement of a material from distant or esoteric sources. Available geochemical data, combined with current archaeological evidence, favour the alluvial deposits of south-west Britain as the most likely source of the gold.

scholarly journals Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Žegarac ◽  
L. Winkelbach ◽  
J. Blöcher ◽  
Y. Diekmann ◽  
M. Krečković Gavrilović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Structure ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Status Differences

AbstractTwenty-four palaeogenomes from Mokrin, a major Early Bronze Age necropolis in southeastern Europe, were sequenced to analyse kinship between individuals and to better understand prehistoric social organization. 15 investigated individuals were involved in genetic relationships of varying degrees. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community’s social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers. We find evidence for female exogamy but no indications for strict patrilocality. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons. We further show that sons had the possibility to acquire status during their lifetimes, but not necessarily to inherit it. Taken together, these findings suggest that Southeastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age had a significantly different family and social structure than Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies of Central Europe.

scholarly journals The origins of money: Calculation of similarity indexes demonstrates the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0240462
Author(s):  
Maikel H. G. Kuijpers ◽  
Cătălin N. Popa
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Commodity Money ◽  
Human Intellect ◽  
Selection Of

The origins of money and the formulation of coherent weight and measurement systems are amongst the most significant prehistoric developments of the human intellect. We present a method for detecting perceptible standardization of weights and apply this to 5028 Early Bronze Age rings, ribs, and axe blades from Central Europe. We calculate the degree of uniformity on the basis of psychophysics, and quantify this using similarity indexes. The analysis shows that 70.3% of all rings could not be perceptibly distinguished from a ring weighing 195.5 grams, indicating their suitability as commodity money. Perceptive weight equivalence is demonstrated between rings, and a selection of ribs and axe blades. Co-occurrence of these objects evidences their interchangeability. We further suggest that producing copies of rings led to recognition of weight similarities and the independent emergence of a system of weighing in Central Europe at the end of the Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Manufacture, use and management of macro-lithic resources in the Bronze Age settlement of Bruszczewo (Poland)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Selina Delgado-Raack ◽  
Jutta Kneisel ◽  
Janusz Czebreszuk ◽  
Johannes Müller
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Metal Artefacts ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Archaeological Materials

Contrary to pottery or metal artefacts, macro-lithic tools are still not fully integrated into the archaeological research programs concerning the Early Bronze Age of Central Europe. While such kind of archaeological materials usually do not easily allow typological approaches, their constant participation in several productive spheres makes them a crucial element for understanding the economic processes and the organisation of past societies. This paper presents the general results of the investigation carried out on an assemblage of 1073 macro-lithic items recovered in the wet soil area of the site of Bruszczewo (municipality of Śmigiel, Poland). This fortified settlement was inhabited during the Early Bronze Age (2100-1650 BCE) and later on in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (1100-800 BCE), with minor archaeological evidences from Middle Ages. The methodology applied in this assessment is a holistic one, which combines manufacturing (petrography and morphometry), functional (use-wear and residues) and spatial analyses. This approach has allowed recording a mainly local raw material supplying system, based on the gathering of pebbles in the vicinity of the site and a minimal transformation of raw pieces previous to use. Moreover, Bruszczewo comes out to be a central settlement managing and controlling exogenous ores, such as copper and gold, as shown by residues found on some macro-lithic forging anvils. All in all, the recognition in the macro-lithic tool assemblage of different tasks related to subsistence (food preparation) as well as to manufacture (metallurgy, probably bone working) processes contributes to (a) defining the settlement's organisation and the management of resources in the site and (b) improving our understanding of the role played by central settlements in the socio-economic networks, at a time when the first class societies emerged in Central Europe.

Radiocarbon dates and absolute chronology of the central European Early Bronze Age

Antiquity ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 67 (255) ◽  
pp. 218-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stašo Forenbaher
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central European ◽  
Age Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
The Bronze Age

It is more than forty years now since the first radiocarbon dates began the reconciliation of conventional and absolute chronologies for later prehistory. This pioneering radiocarbon chronology for the Bronze Age sequence in Central Europe brings that process nearer to a close, by filling the last major gap in the radiocarcbon chronology of the European continent.

scholarly journals Dating Archaeological Cultures by Their Moats? A Case Study from the Early Bronze Age Settlement Fidvár near Vráble, SW Slovakia

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-343
Author(s):  
Frank Schlütz ◽  
Felix Bittmann
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Plant Macroremains ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
First Time ◽  
Archaeological Chronologies ◽  
Ams Dates

AbstractThis article uses age-depth models based on 29 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates from charred plant macroremains (seeds, chaff), wood charcoal, and snail shells found in two moats from the settlement Fidvár near Vráble (SW Slovakia) to improve the absolute chronology of the Early Bronze Age in central Europe. The charred macroremains were taxonomically identified to species or genus level and the lifespan of the objects and the archaeological context were considered carefully. The selected snail shells were identified to provide reliable age information. This study demonstrates that under certain conditions, ditch archives can be well suited to contribute to archaeological chronologies. For the first time, the transition from the Hatvan to the Únětice period is dated absolutely.

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