6533b821fe1ef96bd127be62

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Bronze of the Living, Bronze of the Dead

subject

description

In the area considered here, the funerary goods found in burials dating from the Late MBA to the beginning of the LBA (Bz C2 to Ha A1) are particularly rich, with a variety of bronze objects such as ornaments, clothing accessories, tools and weapons. Contemporary settlements only occasionally provide “lost” metal objects and deposits on land or in rivers remain rare. Is it possible from the objects found in excavated contexts (burials, settlements, hoards) alone to evaluate the bronze that circulated during the Late Bronze Age? How representative are the objects in these contexts of bronze production and do they really indicate the metal held within economic exchange networks? How can we determine/evaluate the mass of bronze needed in everyday life and for asserting an individual’s economic and social status when the main source of information from funerary contexts proves to be biased? The family farm corresponds to the basic economic unit and by estimating the average number of people in a family (8 to 10 individuals), it is possible to estimate the metal equipment that was needed for farming, for weaponry, for ornaments and various personal objects. The mass values that we propose are much higher than from bronzes found in archaeological contexts, thus providing a more realistic picture of the quantities of metal that circulated and the number of objects in use. The consequences in economic and social terms are subsequently discussed.