Selective deposition in the British Early Bronze Age

Needham, Stuart

doi:10.1080/00438243.1988.9980069

Cited by 54 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Major rivers saw the most lavish consumption of weaponry in the later Bronze Age, whereas tools and ornaments were deposited in a wider variety of contexts (Bradley 1990; Fontijn 2002). This is a tradition in marked contrast to the situation in the EBA in which daggers, ornaments and small tools were found in graves (Needham's Set 1, Needham 1988). Deposition in wet places crystallizes over the EBA/MBA transition and becomes entrenched in the later Bronze Age.…”

Section: Deliberate Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 90%

“…As mentioned above, in the Bronze Age in Europe, deposition of special items not found in graves or settlements, such as weapons and axes, was performed according to sets of rules which dictated where this was appropriate (Torbrügge 1971 cited by Bradley 1990; Needham 1988; Fontijn 2002). In a study of deposition in the southern Netherlands, Fontijn (2002) showed just how structured and rule‐bound this practice was.…”

Section: Ideological Implications Of Structured Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large rivers were preferred for weapons and warrior paraphernalia of non‐local origin, and swamps and smaller streams for ornaments and axes perhaps of more local origin. This is referred to as ‘selective deposition’ (Needham 1988; Fontijn 2002). This is a pattern which emerges all over Atlantic Europe in ‘unaltered, watery zones beyond the humanly‐modified environment’ (Arnoldussen and Fontijn in press).…”

Section: Ideological Implications Of Structured Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Offshore Finds From the Bronze Age in North‐western Europe: The Shipwreck Scenario Revisited

Samson

2006

Oxford J Archaeology

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This article challenges received thinking relating to the interpretation of Bronze Age finds from the seabed in the waters of northwestern Europe, especially the North Sea and Channel area. Metal objects recovered from the sea are traditionally presumed to be the result of shipwrecks. As such, their interpretation as casual, if unfortunate loss is unquestioned. However, abandoning the shipwreck scenario as a remnant of the 'sacred vs profane' heuristic, it is suggested that offshore finds could provide insight into deliberate Bronze Age maritime practice, rather than misadventure. Certain patterning in the data of offshore finds, including affinities with hoards on terra firma, urges another interpretive frameworkthat of considering the sea as a place for deposition. This appeared to be the case particularly in regions which experienced an intensity of maritime interaction, such as the Channel area during the later Bronze Age. From this it is hypothesized that rather than being considered outside the Bronze Age social realm, the sea, especially in the MBA to earlier LBA in the Channel area, was incorporated into Bronze Age cosmology in similar ways to other zones in the landscape.

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Section: Deliberate Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Ideological Implications Of Structured Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ideological Implications Of Structured Deposition In the Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Offshore Finds From the Bronze Age in North‐western Europe: The Shipwreck Scenario Revisited

Samson

2006

Oxford J Archaeology

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“…Ottoway (1973) studied the ornaments from central and northern Europe which show a high typological variation. In Britain, the earliest metal artefacts were essentially personal items (Needham 1988;Northover 1999) with minor typological variety (just beads). The oldest metal objects discovered so far in France are also personal ornaments from collective burials in the Paris Basin or from Vignely (Seine-et-Marne) (Mille and Carozza 2009), all from the second half of the 4th millennium BC.…”

Section: Murillo-barroso and Montero-ruizmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copper Ornaments in the Iberian Chalcolithic

Murillo-Barroso¹,

Montero‐Ruiz²

2012

JMA

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A general feature of the first metallurgy in the Old World is the manufacture of personal ornaments. In the Iberian Peninsula, however, the earliest copper items during the Chalcolithic are not ornaments, but tools and tool-weapons. This situation changes radically in the Bronze Age, when copper ornaments constitute the largest group of objects. Technological divergences, which are abo evident, speak of an autonomous and distinct development of metallurgy in Iberia, one that could have limited the elaboration of ornaments. The question we raise is: why was copper not used in Iberia for the manufacture of personal ornaments during the Chalcolithic? We try to answer this by analysing the technological and socioeconomic aspects of the social demand for these products in the Chalcolithic.

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“…One of us has argued that each of their major products (axes, spearheads, daggers, halberds, lunulae, etc.) had its own circumscribed roles in utilitarian, ceremonial and ritual spheres (Needham 1988). Concepts associated with 'industries' may not therefore be appropriate to our investigation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%