Are Models of Prestige Goods Economies and Conspicuous Consumption Applicable to the Archaeology of the Bronze to Iron Age Transition in Britain?

AbstractThis paper compares the later prehistory in two regions of Thailand. The Mun Valley lies on the eastern side of the Phetchabun Range, the Lopburi Region (LR) to the west. They are linked by a major pass. While the Lopburi area is rich in copper ore, the Mun Valley has none. Quality salt is abundantly available in the Mun Valley but less so in the LR. This study explores the inter-relationships between the areas over a period of 2300 years which sharpens our understanding of both, and presents explanations and possibilities in the context of cultural transmission theories. Neolithic farmers with ultimate origins in China, arrived in the first half of the second millennium BC. Widespread exchange in prestige goods was a factor in the adoption of copper-base metallurgy in the late 11th century BC, when the LR became a producer, the Mun Valley an importer. With the Iron Age, (from about 500 BC), sites grew in size. During the course of this period, gold, silver, agate, carnelian and glass ornaments were ritually placed with dead elites. It is in these powerful and wealthy Iron Age communities that we can identify the early transition into states with population growth, agricultural intensification, conflict and increased production and competition over salt and metal for exchange.

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Phytomorphic carnelian pendants in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of the Iberian Peninsula: origin, distribution, and significance

Complutum ◽

10.5209/cmpl.76447 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 29-47

Author(s):

Francisco B. Gomes

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Geographic Distribution ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Significant Part ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Prestige Goods

First highlighted as possible markers for early, 2nd millennium BCE contacts between the Iberian Peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean, phytomorphic carnelian pendants have become a significant part of the discussion on that subject. However, a number of new finds which have taken place in recent years have transformed the available image regarding both the geographic distribution and the chronological setting of these pieces. An updated overview is presented here, which suggests they should now preferably be considered as part of the array of prestige goods introduced in the Far West by Phoenician trade between the later stages of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age

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Wealth, status, and occupation groups

The Oxford Handbook of the European Iron Age ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696826.013.34 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Tom Moore

Keyword(s):

Social Organization ◽

Iron Age ◽

Social Roles ◽

Household Production ◽

Conspicuous Consumption ◽

Small Scale ◽

Wealth Status ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Votive Deposition

Exploring the nature of status and the role of individuals in society is central to understanding social organization. This chapter critically examines current models of how wealth and status were expressed and maintained in Iron Age Europe, and considers evidence for the existence of occupation groups, classes, and specialists. Topics examined include links between status and display of wealth in votive deposition and richly adorned burials, the roles of feasting, conspicuous consumption, and monumentality, and how these may reflect hierarchical or heterarchical forms of social organization. The period saw increasing evidence for specialist roles in spheres such as craftworking, production, mining, and exchange, as well as in ritual and warfare. Some Iron Age communities, however, lacked obvious social specialism and the archaeological evidence points to small-scale modes of household production. Links between gender, age, status, and social roles are also explored.

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From the Iron Age to Angkor: new light on the origins of a state

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00050717 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 88 (341) ◽

pp. 822-835 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Charles Higham

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Emergent Properties ◽

Economic Base ◽

Cultural Changes ◽

Prestige Goods

Excavations at four Iron Age moated sites in the Mun Valley in Thailand have identified seminal innovations, defined as emergent properties, that illuminate the origins of the kingdom of Angkor. Combined with recent research at Angkor itself, they present a compelling case for re-examining fundamental cultural changes that took place over a period of little more than four centuries, from AD 400–800. They compare with similarly rapid developments in Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia; fundamental parallels are evident in the role of charismatic agents for change, an ideology conferring god-like status on leaders, a new and highly productive economic base, an expanded interaction sphere for the exchange of prestige goods, and endemic warfare.

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TALISMANIC PRACTICE AT LEFKANDI: TRINKETS, BURIALS AND BELIEF IN THE EARLY IRON AGE

The Cambridge Classical Journal ◽

10.1017/s175027051500010x ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 62 ◽

pp. 1-30 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nathan T. Arrington

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Explanatory Variable ◽

Gift Exchange ◽

Personal Contact ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Prestige Goods ◽

Cultural Exchanges ◽

New Perspective ◽

And Function

Excavations at Lefkandi have dispelled much of the gloom enshrouding the Early Iron Age, revealing a community with significant disposable wealth and with connections throughout the Mediterranean. The eastern imports in particular have drawn scholarly attention, with discussion moving from questions of production and transportation to issues surrounding consumption. This article draws attention to some limitations in prevalent socio-political explanations of consumption at Lefkandi, arguing that models relying on gift-exchange, prestige-goods and elite display cannot adequately account for the distribution, chronology, find context and function of imports at Lefkandi. A study of trinkets – small but manifestly foreign imports of cheap material – offers a new perspective. An analysis of their form, context, use and meaning demonstrates that trinkets were meaningfully and deliberately deposited with children as talismans or amulets. Talismanic practice had Late Bronze Age precedents, and in the Early Iron Age was stimulated from personal contact with the Near East or Cyprus and nurtured by the unique mortuary landscape at Lefkandi. This article demonstrates the need for archaeologists to treat mortuary beliefs as a meaningful explanatory variable. Moreover, the ability of non-elite objects to convey powerful ideas has important implications for the nature and dynamics of artistic and cultural exchanges between Greece and the East in the Iron Age.

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The Early Iron Age Metal Workshop at Tell Tayinat, Turkey

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2011.741 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1319 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jim Roames

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

The Political ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Iron Production ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Prestige Goods ◽

Political Landscape ◽

Dramatic Rise ◽

Tell Tayinat

ABSTRACTScholars have tried to link the dramatic rise of iron production in the Near East during the Early Iron Age with changes to the political landscape that occurred at the end of the Late Bronze Age. These attempts have been hindered by a lack of excavated iron production contexts dating to the Early Iron Age. The recent discovery of an Early Iron Age metal workshop at the site of Tell Tayinat, Turkey, provides an opportunity to reexamine some previous assumptions. Preliminary chemical analysis of metal and slag samples indicates that during the 12th century BC iron- and bronze-working were not separate, specialized industries. Instead, production of both materials took place within the same workshop context. Furthermore, this work highlights the importance of prestige goods in the Early Iron Age repertoire.

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Experiencing the Frontier and the Frontier of Experience: Barbarian perspectives and Roman strategies to deal with new threats

10.32028/9781789696813 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Hans-Ulrich Voß

Keyword(s):

Social Structure ◽

Iron Age ◽

The Other ◽

Prestige Goods ◽

South Eastern ◽

Complex Process ◽

Central Regions ◽

The One ◽

Different Parts ◽

Power And Influence

'Experiencing the Frontier and the Frontier of Experience' deals with the Roman Empire’s responses to the threats which were caused by the new geostrategic situation brought on by the crisis of the 3rd century AD, induced by the ‘barbarians’ who – often already part of Roman military structures as mercenaries and auxiliaries – became a veritable menace for the Empire. Rome adopted different strategies: they oscillated between inclusion, warfare and other means of exerting influence. The contributions to this volume explore the archaeological evidence for Roman practice and especially the varying strategies of power and influence in the central regions on the one hand, and the south-eastern parts of the European ‘Barbaricum’ on the other. They show how ‘Divide et impera’ functioned as practical policy based on alliances, as well as consequent warfare, and diplomatic initiatives, which are traceable by prestige-goods and subsidia treasures found in the Barbaricum. The comparison of Roman imports in different parts of Iron-Age Europe can help understand better a complex process of shifting power and influence in an emerging new Europe, which transformed the Empire towards medieval ‘Herrschaft’ and social structure.

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Torwood Broch

Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ◽

10.9750/psas.149.1276 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 149 ◽

pp. 25-50

Author(s):

Murray Cook ◽

Graeme Cavers ◽

Gemma Cruickshanks ◽

Gemma Hudson ◽

Fraser Hunter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Iron Age ◽

Conspicuous Consumption ◽

Small Scale ◽

Ritual Practice ◽

Late Prehistoric ◽

Concentric Ring ◽

Local Competition ◽

A Site ◽

First Time

This paper presents the first modern account of Torwood’s artefact assemblage and the most accurate survey of the site to date. These are combined with the results of a small-scale excavation on a newly discovered outer rampart and the publication for the first time of a reused concentric ring-marked stone and a carved face. In turn, these are combined with the results of a broader reassessment of the late prehistoric settlement in the Forth Valley. This review reveals a far greater range and variety of potentially contemporary architectural forms than previously recognised, which is argued to have arisen from conspicuous consumption in the context of local competition, which in turn was aided by the increased resources resulting from the proximity of the Roman Empire. It is further argued that Torwood may be pre-Roman in origin. The context of the concentric ring-marked stone may hint at contemporary Iron Age ritual practice, while the large proportion of local sites associated with both destruction by fire and the presence of large artefact assemblages suggests an underlying common practice regarding the closure of a site after its active use, which may share features with the destruction of souterrains in Fife and Angus. Canmore ID 47004 Canmore ID 45379 Canmore ID 44651 Canmore ID 33350 Canmore ID 30539 Canmore ID 35451 Canmore ID 45356

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