Along the Margins? The Later Bronze Age Seascapes of Western Ireland

Abstract

This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500–600 bc) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies.

Rethinking time, culture and socioeconomic organisation in Bronze Age Transylvania

“…Earle & Kristiansen 2010). Large-scale exchange networks, through which metal and other goods and resources flowed, crossed the continent at unprecedented scales (Ling et al 2018;Melheim et al 2018;Quinn et al 2019). Bottlenecks at strategic points in these networks provided opportunities for emerging elites to turn the control of economic resources into political authority (Earle et al 2015), transforming previously autonomous communities into complex regional polities (Earle & Kristiansen 2010).…”

“…2018; Quinn et al . 2019). Bottlenecks at strategic points in these networks provided opportunities for emerging elites to turn the control of economic resources into political authority (Earle et al .…”