This paper introduces a new set of certified reference materials designed to aid scientists and conservators working in cultural heritage fields with quantitative X-ray fluorescence analysis of historical and prehistoric copper alloys. This set has been designated as the Copper CHARM Set (Cultural Heritage Alloy Reference Material Set). The Copper CHARM Set is designed to be used by a wide range of museum-, art-and archaeology-oriented scientists and conservators to help improve the accuracy and range of their calibrations for quantitativeED-XRF spectrometry of copper alloys, and also increase the number of elements that can routinely be quantified. In addition, the common use of a single core set of the reference materials is designed to significantly improve inter-laboratory reproducibility, allowing greater data sharing between researchers and thus furthering possibilities for collaborative study.

have produced important information on the date and development of the Sarn-y-bryn-caled cursus complex between 3000-2000 BC. In particular a timber circle of 2000 BC, two penannular ring-ditches and a section across the cursus monument were excavated. A radiocarbon sequence has been obtained. The results of the excavations are described in Part I. Part II comprises a discussion of the forms, dates, functions, and reconstruction of timber circles. A corpus of and chronology for timber circles is presented. PART I: THE EXCAVATIONS 1 Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust,

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The discovery of 373 intact and broken tin-bronze socketed axes accompanied by 404 fragments in four pits at Langton Matravers collectively represents one of the largest hoards found to date in prehistoric Britain and Ireland. They were very probably never meant to be used as axes as the very high levels of tin they contain would have made them brittle. Many were poorly finished, with the majority still containing their casting cores. The axes are typologically dated to the Llyn Fawr metalwork phase (c.800-600 BC) and span the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition, when the production, circulation and deposition of bronze appear to have been substantially reduced throughout north-west Europe. By placing the Langton Matravers hoard(s) in a broader metallurgical, material and archaeological context, existing theories for this phenomenon, such as the preference for iron, a collapse in bronze supply, or the sharp devaluation of a social or ritual 'bronze standard', are evaluated. It is proposed that the Langton Matravers axes belong to a short phase in the centuries-long processes underlying the changing roles of bronze and iron.OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 34(4) 365-395 2015 Figure 3The axes as found and photographed by the finders -pit number unknown (from Wessex Archaeology 2008).