Scales, weights and weight-regulated artefacts in Middle and Late Bronze Age Britain

Rahmstorf, Lorenz

doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.257

Cited by 15 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…CQA as a means to study balance weights and mass-regulated items is now the established method for ancient weight metrology (e.g. Petruso 1992;Pare 1999;Hafford 2005Hafford , 2012Rahmstorf 2010;Ialongo 2018;Ialongo et al 2018). Since it has been described by others (e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent study of Bronze Age weights and potential mass-regulated objects published in this journal, Rahmstorf (2019) applied statistical analysis to 52 British gold bar torcs and 100 penannular bracelets and dress-fasteners from Britain, Ireland and France. Using Cosine Quantogram Analysis (CQA), a method originally developed by Kendall (1974), and tested for statistical significance through Monte Carlo simulation, Rahmstorf (2019: 1203) shows that the objects could be divided into three statistically relevant ranges of mass: 11.6–11.9g, 41–46g and 90–97g. Unlike the specific unit suggested by Ruiz-Gálvez (2000), a range of mass per unit seems more likely, as prehistoric objects such as balance weights always display some mass variation, even when they apparently adhere to certain groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weight regulation in British and Irish Bronze Age gold objects: a reanalysis and reinterpretation

Hermann

2022

Antiquity

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Sophisticated metrological systems were common in the European Bronze Age and mass-regulation has been argued for various classes of object, including gold artefacts. A recent study published in Antiquity used Cosine Quantogram Analysis to demonstrate mass-regulation in a small sample of gold objects from Britain, Ireland and France. Since then, substantial quantities of new data from British Bronze Age gold objects have been collated. Here, the author presents the results of Cosine Quantogram Analysis on nearly 1000 such objects—the largest sample analysed to date. The results demonstrate that, even though some regularities can be discerned, mass-regulation is no longer a tenable interpretation of gold objects from Bronze Age Britain.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weight regulation in British and Irish Bronze Age gold objects: a reanalysis and reinterpretation

Hermann

2022

Antiquity

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“…The practical development of a set of scales, and the cognitive development of a system of weighing through which to operate a balance. The earliest evidence of balance weights and balances in Western Europe dates to the Middle Bronze Age, and were likely used for gold given their sizes and weights [4,[48][49][50]. Around the same time there is a noticeable increase in the amount of bronzes being traded from the south to the north of Europe [51].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

The origins of money: Calculation of similarity indexes demonstrates the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe

Kuijpers

Popa

2021

PLoS ONE

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The origins of money and the formulation of coherent weight and measurement systems are amongst the most significant prehistoric developments of the human intellect. We present a method for detecting perceptible standardization of weights and apply this to 5028 Early Bronze Age rings, ribs, and axe blades from Central Europe. We calculate the degree of uniformity on the basis of psychophysics, and quantify this using similarity indexes. The analysis shows that 70.3% of all rings could not be perceptibly distinguished from a ring weighing 195.5 grams, indicating their suitability as commodity money. Perceptive weight equivalence is demonstrated between rings, and a selection of ribs and axe blades. Co-occurrence of these objects evidences their interchangeability. We further suggest that producing copies of rings led to recognition of weight similarities and the independent emergence of a system of weighing in Central Europe at the end of the Early Bronze Age.

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“…Far from being restricted to political economies rife with hierarchy and coercion, trade has commonly occurred in contexts where a ruling class is absent (Oka and Kusimba 2008). Indeed, even standardized systems of weights and measures, clear evidence of people attempting to develop commensurate quantities of goods, have been recovered in contexts that lack significant wealth differentiation (e.g., Rahmstorf 2019).…”

Section: Do Complex Societies Necessarily Have a Ruling Class?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

Green

2020

J Archaeol Res

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The cities of the Indus civilization were expansive and planned with large-scale architecture and sophisticated Bronze Age technologies. Despite these hallmarks of social complexity, the Indus lacks clear evidence for elaborate tombs, individual-aggrandizing monuments, large temples, and palaces. Its first excavators suggested that the Indus civilization was far more egalitarian than other early complex societies, and after nearly a century of investigation, clear evidence for a ruling class of managerial elites has yet to materialize. The conspicuous lack of political and economic inequality noted by Mohenjo-daro’s initial excavators was basically correct. This is not because the Indus civilization was not a complex society, rather, it is because there are common assumptions about distributions of wealth, hierarchies of power, specialization, and urbanism in the past that are simply incorrect. The Indus civilization reveals that a ruling class is not a prerequisite for social complexity.

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Scales, weights and weight-regulated artefacts in Middle and Late Bronze Age Britain

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 15 publications

References 17 publications

Weight regulation in British and Irish Bronze Age gold objects: a reanalysis and reinterpretation

Weight regulation in British and Irish Bronze Age gold objects: a reanalysis and reinterpretation

The origins of money: Calculation of similarity indexes demonstrates the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

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