Beaker and Early Bronze Age Tin Exploitation in Cornwall: Cassiterite Processing Identified through Microwear and pXRF Analyses

Carey, Christopher; Tsoraki, Christina; Jones, Andy M.; Harris, Oliver; Crellin, Rachel J.; Lyons, P. B.

doi:10.1017/eaa.2022.30

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 52 publications

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“…2012; Carey et al . 2022). The association with tin is particularly significant as the earliest alloying of copper with tin to form bronze in western Europe is thought to have its origins in Britain (Radivojević et al .…”

Section: Redating Entrance Gravesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tregiffian: The Chronology of an Entrance Grave

Jones¹,

Quinnell²

2023

Oxford J Archaeology

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The Tregiffian project involved the analysis and dating of the archive from unpublished excavations in the 1960s and 1970s at an entrance grave in Penwith, Cornwall. A major aim of the project was to establish a robust chronological basis for the use of the entrance grave for burial: 10 samples of cremated human bone were submitted for radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling undertaken. The modelling indicates that the use of the chamber for burial between began in 1780-1510 BC and ended in 1595-1425 BC. The results are hugely significant as they provide the first modelled dating from a Penwith entrance grave. This paper discusses the results from the radiocarbon dating project and reconsiders entrance graves in the wider context of the Early Bronze Age megalithic tombs which are found around the Irish Sea. FIGURE 1 Map showing the location of Tregiffian and entrance graves in Penwith.

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Section: Redating Entrance Gravesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tregiffian: The Chronology of an Entrance Grave

Jones¹,

Quinnell²

2023

Oxford J Archaeology

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Industrial Sites and Geoarchaeology

Carey

Macphail

2023

Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology

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Debunking Deterministic Narratives of Technological Development Through Experimentation: A Critical Review of the Prehistory of Tin Bronze Alloying

Montes-Landa,

Timberlake,

Martinón-Torres

2024

J Archaeol Method Theory

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The currently accepted narrative on the prehistory of bronze alloying technology follows deterministic, outdated assumptions of technological progression that ignore the role of contextual and performance factors in the decision-making processes, thus neglecting human agency. In essence, it is expected that newer techniques were overarchingly more advanced than older ones and hence replaced them. The validity of this narrative should be challenged and revised. A critical analysis of worldwide literature exposed that, contrary to predictions of the accepted theory, (1) the oldest alloying techniques persisted for centuries after newer ones were invented, and (2) several techniques usually coexisted in the same contexts. We hypothesised that these counterintuitive findings could be explained by differences in performance between techniques, (dis)advantageous at different settings. To obtain empirical information on the performance of techniques and test for behaviourally relevant performance differences between them, a series of alloying experiments were conducted. The results show that all techniques can produce objects of broadly equivalent quality while offering different trade-offs during production. Therefore, every technique—or a combination—can be advantageous under certain conditions, and there are no grounds to support a linear trajectory of substitution. These results debunk the traditional narrative and predict that co-smelting and cementation techniques were more frequently practiced in the past than hitherto assumed. Our propositions prompt a readjustment of explanatory models of bronze production organisation, trade, and consumption while opening unexplored research paths for archaeology and the history of technology.

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Beaker and Early Bronze Age Tin Exploitation in Cornwall: Cassiterite Processing Identified through Microwear and pXRF Analyses

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Tregiffian: The Chronology of an Entrance Grave

Tregiffian: The Chronology of an Entrance Grave

Industrial Sites and Geoarchaeology

Debunking Deterministic Narratives of Technological Development Through Experimentation: A Critical Review of the Prehistory of Tin Bronze Alloying

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