The Use and Significance of Socketed Axes During the Late Bronze Age

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Roberts ◽  
Barbara S. Ottaway
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Parallel Development ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear

The widespread employment and acceptance of use-wear analysis on materials such as flint and bone has not been accompanied by a parallel development in archaeometallurgy. This article explores its potential and problems through the investigation of socketed axes in eastern Yorkshire, in England and south-east Scotland during the late Bronze Age. Experimental work on modern replications of socketed axes was compared with wear traces on prehistoric socketed axes. The results indicate that prehistoric socketed axes had been used as multi-purpose tools, but that the nature and extent of their uses before deposition varied considerably. By combining use-wear analysis with contextual information on socketed axes in the late Bronze Age landscape, ideas concerning their significance can be explored.

From Texts and Iconography to Use-Wear Analysis of Ceramic Vessels

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-210
Author(s):  
Bartłomiej Lis ◽  
Trevor Van Damme
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Repeated Use ◽  
Funerary Rites

While handwashing is attested in the Bronze Age cultures of the eastern Mediterranean and appears in both Linear B records and Homeric epics, the custom has not been discussed with regard to the material culture of Mycenaean Greece. On analogy with Egyptian handwashing equipment, we explore the possibility that a conical bowl made of bronze and copied in clay was introduced in Greece early in the Late Bronze Age for this specific use. We integrate epigraphic, iconographic and formal analyses to support this claim, but in order to interrogate the quotidian function of ceramic lekanes, we present the results of use-wear analysis performed on 130 examples. As use-wear develops from repeated use over a long time, it is a good indicator of normative behaviour, particularly when large datasets are amassed and contrasted with other shapes. While not conclusive, our results allow us to rule out a function as tableware for food consumption, and in combination with all other analyses support the interpretation of lekanes as handwashing basins. We then trace the development of this custom from its initial adoption by elite groups to its spread among new social classes and venues after the collapse of the palace system: at home, as part of communal feasting and sacrifice or as an element of funerary rites. The widespread distribution of handwashing equipment after 1200 bc closely mirrors the situation in our earliest surviving Greek Iron Age texts and joins a growing body of evidence pointing to strong continuity in social practices between the Postpalatial period and the early Iron Age in Greece.

scholarly journals Recycling in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age: evidence of flint recycling at Ein-Zippori, Israel

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoni Parush ◽  
Richard Yerkes ◽  
Bar Efrati ◽  
Ran Barkai ◽  
Gopher Avi
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Separate Paper ◽  
Lithic Assemblages ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear

This paper presents a new techno-typological analysis of a sample of small flakes that were produced through recycling from discarded blanks at the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age site of Ein-Zippori, Lower Galilee, Israel. This study shows that the systematic production of small flakes from previously discarded blanks was not related to a scarcity in raw materials, but rather to specific decisions concerning the types of tools needed to complete necessary tasks. These results are supported by use-wear analysis noted briefly here and presented in more detail in a separate paper. The results indicate that recycling was a significant lithic production trajectory during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Recycling also contributes to the variability in lithic assemblages from those cultural periods.

scholarly journals Bronze Age Swordsmanship: New Insights from Experiments and Wear Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1040-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphael Hermann ◽  
Andrea Dolfini ◽  
Rachel J. Crellin ◽  
Quanyu Wang ◽  
Marion Uckelmann
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
The Body ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Future Experimentation ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
And Training

Abstract The article presents a new picture of sword fighting in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe developed through the Bronze Age Combat Project. The project investigated the uses of Bronze Age swords, shields, and spears by combining integrated experimental archaeology and metalwork wear analysis. The research is grounded in an explicit and replicable methodology providing a blueprint for future experimentation with, and wear analysis of, prehistoric copper-alloy weapons. We present a four-step experimental methodology including both controlled and actualistic experiments. The experimental results informed the wear analysis of 110 Middle and Late Bronze Age swords from Britain and Italy. The research has generated new understandings of prehistoric combat, including diagnostic and undiagnostic combat marks and how to interpret them; how to hold and use a Bronze Age sword; the degree of skill and training required for proficient combat; the realities of Bronze Age swordplay including the frequency of blade-on-blade contact; the body parts and areas targeted by prehistoric sword fencers; and the evolution of fighting styles in Britain and Italy from the late 2nd to the early 1st millennia BC. All primary data discussed in the article are available as supplementary material (Appendix) so as to allow scrutiny and validation of the research results.

scholarly journals The metal forging tools of the Late Bronze Age population of the forest-steppe Tobol River region (experimental-traceological analysis)

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-60
Author(s):  
Yu.V. Kostomarova
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Alloys ◽  
Hot Forging ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Functional Identification ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
River Region ◽  
Tin Content

The paper reports on the results of experimental-traceological study of stone tools used for metal forging by the Late Bronze Age population of the Middle Tobol River region (Western Siberia). The chronological span of the study, according to the radiocarbon dating, extends from the 17th to 9th centuries BC. This paper aims to substan-tiate and expand the existing knowledgebase on the metalwork production with the aid of experiments in forging copper and bronze. The research materials include about 60 stone tools from the Late Bronze Age sites and 23 experimental tools. The trace evidence analysis and microphotography of the signs of use-wear have been performed using a continuous-zoom microscope MC-2 ZOOM with 10х to 40х magnification and a Canon EOS-1100-D camera. The experimental study involved cold and hot forging of copper and bronze items with different tin content and their surface smoothening. As a result, the efficiency of the stone tools in molding has been con-firmed. The signs of use-wear of the tools have been recorded. Distinctive use-wear features of hammers for cold and hot forging associated with the tool kinematics have been identified. It has been concluded that the wear signs on the hammers used for incomplete hot and hot forging were identical. It appeared that the smooth working area of some flatters was the result of preliminary abrasive treatment. Smoothening and drawing proved efficient in processing of copper items and low-alloyed bronzes. This treatment was carried out on the hot metal. It has been ascertained that the kinematics of processing of the copper and bronze items was the same. The signs of usage of the tools employed for shaping bronze moldings with different tin content differ from those on the tools used on copper by more extensive chipping, which is due to a higher hardness of tin-copper alloys. Prototype multi-functional tools used in different operations, viz., forging and drawing, have been identified. Their specific is the working area with a combination of several groups of wear marks overlapping each other. Therefore, we managed to produce a series of the experimental tools used in copper and bronze forging. This allowed us to elaborate the functional identification and technology of some archaeological instruments from the Late Bronze Age sites of the forest-steppe Tobol River region.

scholarly journals BONE TOOLS OF TANNING PRODUCTION OF TALDYSAY SETTLEMENT

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G.B. Sargizov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Small Ruminants ◽  
Leather Industry ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Leather Processing ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
Ancient People ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
Very High

The article describes the bone and antler industry in the Taldysay settlement. In the settlement of Taldysai many tools and products from the bones of cattle and small ruminants were found, and the purposes of their use were different. They were widely used in metalworking, ceramics processing, and leatherworking. In the late Bronze Age, there were many types of farms in the Taldysai settlements. In particular, leather processing was an important production of ancient people. The article describes the main types of bone tools used in the leather industry and the results of trasological research. The trasological (use wear analysis) analysis allowed the authors to distinguish and characterize the groups of the tools found in the settlement: puffins, polished astragals of small cattle, prosplitting, and scrapers. The general and specific features of each of the hand-made tools, their functions and applications. Considering the types of bone tools, we see that the method of leather processing by the Taldysai population in the Bronze Age consisted of several processes, and they produced leather goods of very high quality

scholarly journals Harm’s Way: An Approach to Change and Continuity in Prehistoric Combat

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-116
Author(s):  
Christian Horn
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
The Way

Warfare has been recognized as an important factor in past societies, but the way it contributes to change is still not very well understood. When it comes to an- cient war, archaeology faces a problem: we are rarely able to address the intentions behind wars. This article seeks to take a look at the micro-scale of warfare and address what, and how, it contributed to change. To achieve this it was necessary to take a close-up look at combat, weapons and fighters as elementary parts of warfare. The use-wear analysis of 208 Early Nor- dic Bronze Age spears and swords, and 15 Late Neo- lithic halberds will be used as a case study to address several problems: 1. the (non-) functionality of early weaponry; 2. the conduct of combat; 3. the relation between weapons, fighters and combat. A hypothesis will be formulated in order to understand combat in terms of communication as a mediator between dif- ferent agents of warfare.

The Use and Significance of Early Bronze Age Stone Battle-axes and Axe-hammers from Northern Britain and the Isle of Man

2020 ◽  
Vol 86 ◽  
pp. 237-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber Sofia Roy
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Isle Of Man ◽  
Analysis Methodology ◽  
Wear Analysis ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
The Status ◽  
Different Shapes

The perforated stone battle-axes and axe-hammers of Early Bronze Age Britain have been used either to interpret the status of individuals they were buried with or have been overlooked; this is especially the case with axe-hammers. Previous understandings have assumed battle-axes were purely ceremonial, while the rougher axe-hammers were neither functional nor prestigious, being too large and too crude to be prestige items. Studies of the 20th century were focused on creating a typology and understanding the manufacture and petrological sources of the stone, concluding that haphazard exploitation of stone was used to create a variety of different shapes of both implements. This paper revisits the question of how these artefacts were used. It presents the results of the first large-scale application of use-wear analysis to British Early Bronze Age battle-axes and axe-hammers, from northern Britain and the Isle of Man. Combining the results of the wear analysis with experimental archaeology and contextual analysis, it is argued that these objects were functional tools, some of which saw prolonged use that might have spanned multiple users. The evidence shows that the few implements found in burial contexts were both functional and symbolic; their inclusion in burial contexts drawing upon relational links which developed through the itineraries of these objects. It is also apparent that use and treatment were similar across all types of battle-axe and axe-hammer, with some regional variation in the deposition of axe-hammers in south-west Scotland. It is concluded that battle-axes and axe-hammers had varied and multiple roles and significances and that it is possible to discover what each artefact was used for by deploying a use-wear analysis methodology.

The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Masalha
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Political Geography ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
Master Narratives ◽  
The Bible ◽  
School History

The Concept of Palestine is deeply rooted in the collective consciousness of the indigenous people of Palestine and the multicultural ancient past. The name Palestine is the most commonly used from the Late Bronze Age (from 1300 BCE) onwards. The name Palestine is evident in countless histories, inscriptions, maps and coins from antiquity, medieval and modern Palestine. From the Late Bronze Age onwards the names used for the region, such as Djahi, Retenu and Cana'an, all gave way to the name Palestine. Throughout Classical Antiquity the name Palestine remained the most common and during the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods the concept and political geography of Palestine acquired official administrative status. This article sets out to explain the historical origins of the concept of Palestine and the evolving political geography of the country. It will seek to demonstrate how the name ‘Palestine’ (rather than the term ‘Cana'an’) was most commonly and formally used in ancient history. It argues that the legend of the ‘Israelites’ conquest of Cana'an’ and other master narratives of the Bible evolved across many centuries; they are myth-narratives, not evidence-based accurate history. It further argues that academic and school history curricula should be based on historical facts/empirical evidence/archaeological discoveries – not on master narratives or Old Testament sacred-history and religio-ideological constructs.

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