Re: Bronze Age in the Baltic


"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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On Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:23:18 +0200, "Uwe Müller"
<uwemueller@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Steve Marcus" <smarcus_spamout_@xxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:35:04 +0200, "Uwe Müller"
<uwemueller@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 08:02:56 +0200, "Uwe Müller"
<uwemueller@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Eric Stevens" <eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
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An aquaintance has referred interesting theory to me, which may
stand
or fall on the basis of archaeological evidence for Bronze Age
manufacture and trading in the Baltic. Unfortunately I don't
know
enough about this to form an opinion.

Can anyone tell me if:

a) There is evidence of a significant Bronze Age centre of
metal
working or trading in any particular part of the Baltic. The
relevant
metals are (obviously) copper, tin and possibly zinc.

There is a centre of very rich burials in a region that otherwise
knows
little differences in burial goods. It is supposed to have been
situated
at
the crossroads of the amber and copper trade.

Is this the centre you are referring to below or is it somewhere
else?

The location was asked for in question b), so I gave the location
there.

snip >

Whatever the theory may be, it should accomodate for the Prignitz. It
could
be made into a regional sub-centre, but than the 'real' center, on
the
coast
of Finnland?, would have to show more foreign imports, greater
material
wealth and more sophisticated technology.

That will be hard to match.

Those were my thoughts but then, as I said, I don't know much about
the archaeology of the area and I could well have been wrong.

I suppose an associated question is where did the copper used for
bronze in the Baltic come from in that period?

Bronze Age copper exports??

Oman and or the western coast of India:
http://tinyurl.com/jto63

From Syrian and Babylonian sources through Cyprus to the Levant:
http://tinyurl.com/jto63

If copper was exported from a place, it could have ended up in the
Baltic
region as easily as it would end up in west Asia or the Levant.

Of course, mining in Cornwall goes back to the Bronze Age, and there
was
copper aplenty there to export:
http://tinyurl.com/hmpwh

Than there is the central European Ore mountains with early mining and
exports, the Balkans, Italy, ... And they did not only have to supply the
Baltic area but the whole of the Nordic culture too, as there is no sign
of
metal production except for the island of Helgoland.

That's interesting. My correspondent won't like the idea but it does
tie in with an unwanted variant of his theory. :-)

Given established cultural contacts and lines of communication along
rivers
the nearest area supplying copper would have been the Ore Mountains.

I presume the copper would be transported as ingots with the final
manufacture of bronze taking place elsewhere.

Wll, that's not not so easily answered.
The most common form of ingots traded in the early bronze age are the so
called Oesenhalsringe, neck rings with ends forming loops. They are already
made from bronze.

There are few finds of copper plates, roughly circular with a hole in the
middle, that come from pouring molted copper in a conical hole in the
ground, and, as the surface hardens by cooling, ripping it up with a stick.
A number of these have been dated to the late bronze age.

There is little indication of other forms of ingots for north alpine Europe.
Analysis of the metall has shown a number of sources for the copper and the
distribution of metal. But by far the most artifacts contain bits and pieces
that have been remelted, obliterating any tell-tale signatures from rare
elements.

But there is one fact in favour of different circulation systems for copper
and tin: the tin content of finished copper products is much higher in the
Nordic culture area than for instance in the Med, where the 'normal' 10% are
seldom noted. That is why bronze casting is technically much better in the
North than in the South.

For the late Bronze age Jockenhoevel has worked about the organization of
bronze working. According to him there would have been the local smith
working the more simple technics with bronze already mixed, and, based at
central settlements, the high-tech smiths working with complicated technics
(three piece moulds) and presumably beeing able to mix their own bronze.

I'm not overall happy with his distinction, as his central places are
defended settlements which are scarce or even lacking in northern Germany,
definitely lacking in the Nordic culture. But his assumption, that the local
village smith would only work ready made bronze and use simple technics,
seems to hold.

This all seems to indicate that in north alpine Europe the normal case would
have been to acquire tin, smelt for copper, mix the metals and trade in
Bronze, while only a few people would experiment with copper and tin,
seeking those metals separately.

But...
Most of the archaeologic data is on burials, with local or reginal customs
governing what went into the grave, and what not. A settlement excavation in
former Yugoslavia showed that many artefact types, that are regionally
restricted in their use as burial goods, have been made (and used?) far
outside this region.

This is just to point out, that we know in fact very little about metallurgy
in the Bronze age, with the increase of settlement archaeology more
surprises are to be expected.

have fun

Uwe Mueller




Eric Stevens



.

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