Orfanou, V;
Amicone, S;
Sava, V;
O'Neill, B;
Brown, LEF;
Bruyere, C;
Molloy, BPC;
(2022)
Forging a New World Order? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Management of Metalworking and Ideological Change in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin.
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory
10.1007/s10816-022-09566-6.
(In press).
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Abstract
The Carpathian Basin was a highly influential centre of metalworking in the 2nd mil. BC. Nevertheless, despite the abundance of metal objects from the Late Bronze Age, the scarcity of contextually associated metalworking remains representing distinct phases of the metalworking cycle from this region is striking. Here, we explore Late Bronze Age metalworking through the lens of a uniquely complete metalworking assemblage from the site of Șagu from contexts spanning the sixteenth to early thirteenth century BC. This material provides insights into changes in craft organisation following socio-political change after the collapse of Middle Bronze Age tell-centred communities. Our approach combines analytical and experimental data together with contextual analysis of technical ceramics (crucible, mould, and furnace fragments) to reconstruct the metalworking chaîne opératoire and place Șagu in its broader cultural context. Analyses demonstrate clear technological choices in ceramic paste recipes and strong interlinkages between metallurgy and other crafts practised on site, from domestic pottery production to building structures. Experimental replications reveal important intrinsic and experiential aspects of metallurgical activities at Șagu. Evidence on the spatial organisation of metallurgical workflows (routine sequence of actions and decisions) suggests they incorporated a high degree of visibility, which marks a distinct change in the use of craft space compared to the context of densely occupied Middle Bronze Age tells nearby. Combined, our archaeometric, experimental, and contextual results illustrate how changes in metalworking activities in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin were deeply embedded in an ideological shift in the aftermath of the breakdown of Middle Bronze Age tells and the emergence of new social structures.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Forging a New World Order? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Management of Metalworking and Ideological Change in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10816-022-09566-6 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09566-6 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Late Bronze Age, Carpathian Basin, Crucible metallurgy, Technical ceramics, Experimental archaeology |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10155001 |
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