Early Roman Iron Age Jewellery in the Northern Barbaricum:

Bliujienė, Audronė; Petrauskas, Gediminas; Bagdzevičienė, Jurga; Suzdalev, Sergej; Babenskas, Evaldas

doi:10.2307/j.ctv1zckxdm.8

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…This is especially true for the Roman-period copper-alloy objects found in the eastern Baltic (e.g. Roxburgh & Olli 2019;Bliujienė et al 2020;2021;Roxburgh 2021). The latest research by Roxburgh (2021) selected four well-defined object types recovered from a tarand cemetery and subjected them to pXRF analysis.…”

Section: Historiographymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this question, a large number of objects were analysed non-destructively by portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) to establish the basic copper alloy classification for each item. Despite some limitations (Shackley 2010;Speakman & Shackley 2013), this device is widely used for elemental analysis of archaeological materials, including corroded copper-alloy objects (Gigante et al 2005;Martinón-Torres et al 2012;Roxburgh et al 2018;Bliujienė et al 2020;Wallace et al 2020). The items were mainly sourced from tarand cemeteries of Estonia and northern Latvia (see Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF

Roxburgh¹

2023

EJA

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Brass quickly overtook bronze as the dominant copper alloy across vast areas of the Roman world and beyond during the 1st century BC. It has also been established that the quality of this brass changed over time. To establish whether a rapid transition from bronze to brass also took place in the north-eastern Baltic, over 1200 copper-alloy objects were analysed non-destructively by pXRF. They were primarily sourced from the tarand cemeteries of Estonia and northern Latvia, which date to the Pre-Roman and Roman Iron Ages. The aim was to establish which alloys were in use during these periods, then to determine whether any chronological trends were visible and, if so, for which typological groups. The results show that there was a major shift from bronze to brass towards the end of the Pre-Roman and the early Roman Iron Ages. This is followed by a decline in the use of brass in favour of gunmetal over the following centuries. The results also suggest the existence of an introductory period when traditional bronze and newly arriving brass items circulated together. However, this period better matches a time slightly earlier than that traditionally proposed for the start of Estonia's Roman Iron Age. This pXRF survey presents a better understanding of the arrival of brass in the north-eastern Baltic and adds to our knowledge about the effectiveness of long distance trade and communication networks that transferred new objects, ideas, and technologies to these distant communities.

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Section: Historiographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF

Roxburgh¹

2023

EJA

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“…This huge territory already had close contacts in the early Roman period, primarily involving the exchange of different commodities and cultural ideas. To these contacts among the Balts must be added an intensive and varied contact with the people of the Wielbark culture (Bitner-Wróblewska 1989; Natuniewicz-Sekuła 2017a; Bliujienė et al 2020). In other words, the prevalence of these types of copper alloy beads indicates that they were very common in the Baltic lands and, of course, in the Wielbark culture area during the second half of the Early and the beginning of the Late Roman period (Chilińska-Drapella 2010, Table 30.m, n and 40.s-u; Natuniewicz-Sekuła 2017a, Figs.…”

Section: 2 Te C H N O L O G Y An D P O S S I B L E S Pi N N I N G F ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants in the artefacts not used for their original purpose. A remarkable case from the Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) cemetery in western Lithuania

Bliujienė,

Kisielienė,

Peseckas

et al. 2023

Archaeologia Baltica

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This article investigates tinned bronze ornaments found in two graves of the Lazdininkai-Kalnalaukis cemetery dated to the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century AD from the perspective of archaeological materials, intercultural contacts, 14C AMS dating, and chemical-physical and biological research. These ornaments — a wheel-shaped pendant and a bead — were originally parts of fashionable necklaces. However, these ornaments went into the graves as spinning tools. The wheel-shaped pendant from grave 8(1992) contains the first ever found, or at least officially recorded, use in Lithuania of an aquatic plant for a spinning tool bobbin. The piece of possible linden tree wood was used to compose the spinning tool bobbin found in grave 68(2001). These spinning tools are the first to have appeared in Lithuanian archaeological material from as early as the end of the 2nd century to the first quarter of the 3rd century. In addition, both spinning tools are unique in the Lithuanian archaeological record so far in that the copper alloy spindle whorls were used to compose both working tools. The closest analogues for the wheel-shaped pendant are known from the Wielbark culture and this example should be considered as an import from that cultural area. Copper alloy beads and various local derivatives, however, are numerous in the range of the Baltic cultures area. The copper alloy wheel-shaped spindle whorls from the Migration period cemeteries are the spinning tools created for the specific purpose of spinning which were produced locally, even possibly in the same workshops.

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Manufacture of the Well-Known Central and Northeastern European Eye Fibulae: Previously Unknown Tricks of the Trade

et al. 2021

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The emergence and widespread distribution of eye fibulae as adornment objects, from the northern provinces of the Roman Empire to northeastern Europe and Scandinavia, as well as their typology have been widely explored. Currently in Lithuania, a total of 209 eye fibulae dating to the 1st and 2nd centuries are known. The geographical distribution, typology and chronology of these Early Roman Period jewelry artifacts do not present any problem. However, the technology of manufacture of these fibulae has been much less studied. The present article analyzes the technology of manufacture of Prussian series eye fibulae, including the previously unknown specific manufacturing techniques, such as the use of wooden axes to modify the construction of the fibula and make it more durable and long lasting. Radiocarbon (14C) dating has unambiguously confirmed that the wooden axes are contemporaneous with the time of the use of the fibulae, while observation under the scanning electron microscope has identified wood species used for making the wooden axes. The X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) analysis was used to determine the copper alloys, of which eye fibulae were made. The manufacturing technologies of eye fibulae (forging and casting) are discussed in the context of analytical and experimental studies.

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Early Roman Iron Age Jewellery in the Northern Barbaricum:

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF

A ‘Roman Brass’ Age: a transformation in copper-alloy composition in Estonia and northern Latvia during the Roman Iron Age, identified by pXRF

Plants in the artefacts not used for their original purpose. A remarkable case from the Lazdininkai (Kalnalaukis) cemetery in western Lithuania

Manufacture of the Well-Known Central and Northeastern European Eye Fibulae: Previously Unknown Tricks of the Trade

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