79 research outputs found
From artefact biographies to ‘multiple objects’: a new analysis of the decorated plaques of the Irish Sea region
No full textThe concept of artefact biographies is well established, but has received increasing criticism from archaeologists and anthropologists. This paper reviews this concept and its critiques from the basis of a new digital analysis (using Reflectance Transformation Imaging, RTI) of a small group of decorated Neolithic artefacts from the Isle of Man and North Wales: stone plaques. We argue that the plaques are best understood as being situated in diverse and changing networks of relationships as they are altered over time. To adequately comprehend the changes undergone by these remarkable artefacts it is important that we highlight the ontological character of these changes. To this end we argue that rather than possessing cultural biographies these artefacts are best described as being ‘multiple objects’
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Prehistoric Warfare and Violence: Past, Present, and Future
No full textMaking posthumanist kin in the past
No full textAs Brück (2021) eloquently highlights, many archaeologists are dissatisfied with the narratives that are emerging from ancient DNA (aDNA) research. Oliver Harris and I have argued that one of the central problems with aDNA research is its theoretical foundation (Crellin & Harris 2020). We suggested that a nature-culture binary shapes the narratives that emerge from this work and has real political consequences. In this binary, nature has been aligned with scientific fact and made primary, whereas culture has been presented as secondary and associated with a ‘froth’ of human variability. Brück’s (2021) article is a timely addition to the debate, as studies of kinship that draw on aDNA research are increasing(e.g. Knipper et al. 2017; Mittnik et al. 2019; Sjögren et al. 2020), and they are, as she shows, caught in the same binary trap. Genetic relatedness is not a necessary measure of kinship, and as Brück’s cross-cultural comparisons demonstrate, there are many varied ways to make kin. [Opening paragraph
An Experimental Approach to Prehistoric Violence and Warfare?
No full textDespite the wealth of recent research into prehistoric warfare, our knowledge of how early weapons were handled and used in combat encounters remains limited. The Bronze Age Combat Project aims to investigate the problem through a combination of wear analysis of prehistoric swords, spears, and shields from various UK museum collections and through extensive, rigorous field tests with purpose-built replica weapons. The chapter discusses the multidisciplinary research approach devised by the team. The focus is on the development of our research methodology and experiments. We review our experimental methodology in the light of previous tests with replica weapons and highlight the advantages and shortcomings of our own approach to weapon testing
Metalwork wear-analysis of weapons from the later Bronze Age on the Isle of Man
No full textThis paper presents the result of metalwork wear-analysis
carried out in 2016 by the author at the Manx
Museum on all the copper-alloy weapons held in the
collection from the Bronze Age. The work was
completed to consider the evidence for violence in the
Later Bronze Age on the Isle of Man; given the lack of
skeletal remains from the period the metalwork forms
a key line of evidence when considering the role of
violence in the period. The paper re-presents basic data
(collection numbers, find locations, typologies) on all
the objects (drawing on Davey et al. 1999) and presents
new data regarding three new finds since the last
published catalogue. Following this basic information
the results of metalwork wear-analysis on the
collection are presented and interpreted. In addition a
full catalogue of the wear-analysis is presented as an
appendix
Metalwork wear-analysis of weapons from the later Bronze Age on the Isle of Man
No full textThis paper presents the result of metalwork wear-analysis
carried out in 2016 by the author at the Manx
Museum on all the copper-alloy weapons held in the
collection from the Bronze Age. The work was
completed to consider the evidence for violence in the
Later Bronze Age on the Isle of Man; given the lack of
skeletal remains from the period the metalwork forms
a key line of evidence when considering the role of
violence in the period. The paper re-presents basic data
(collection numbers, find locations, typologies) on all
the objects (drawing on Davey et al. 1999) and presents
new data regarding three new finds since the last
published catalogue. Following this basic information
the results of metalwork wear-analysis on the
collection are presented and interpreted. In addition a
full catalogue of the wear-analysis is presented as an
appendix
Examining the British and Irish Early Bronze Age Flat Axes of the Greenwell Collection at the British Museum
No full textThis paper presents the results of metalwork wear-analysis carried out on British and Irish Early Bronze Age copper and copper-alloy flat axes from the collection of Rev. Greenwell (1820–1918) held at the British Museum. Greenwell was a prolific and well-known British antiquarian; part of his collection was sold to John Pierpont Morgan who donated the axes to the museum in 1908. This paper focuses on the copper and copper-alloy flat axes from within this collection, which date to c. 2500–1700 cal BC and are the earliest form of metal axe in Britain and Ireland. The 38 axes are drawn from across Britain and Ireland, and whilst the contextual information associated with them is not complete this paper shows that there is still much we can learn from these objects using metalwork wear-analysis. In addition, some methodological insights are drawn from this analysis: in particular the paper advocates for more detailed recording of corrosion and specific recording of wear marks to the butts of axes
Bronze Age Swordsmanship: New Insights from Experiments and Wear Analysis
No full textThe 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.Historical Metallurgy Society http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100012064Newcastle University http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000774The British Museu
- …
