For obvious reasons , the metal most associate with the Bronze Age does tend to be , well , bronze . But that ’s certainly not the only thing ourancestorswere rocking all those yard of years ago – and a unexampled discovery out of Wiltshire , England , has reminded archaeologists that when it comes to bling , some things never change .
“ Goldis a ‘ asterisk ’ material in much of theBronze Ageliterature : it grabs care and is fancy as valuable and prestigious , ” explains a young report , published today in the journal Antiquity . “ It is value differently , worked differently , and those that had entree to it are strike off as different . ”
And for proof of that , the researchers behind the paper pauperization look no further than an ancient tumulus known as Upton Lovell G2a . Originally excavated back in 1801 , it ’s not the discovery of this grave itself that is making the news , but what was inside – and a few details that have spend the last two century enshroud in plain passel .
The grave goods from the Upton Lovell burial on display at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. Image credit: Wiltshire Museum, Devizes
“ At the late ‘ World of Stonehenge ’ exhibition at the British Museum , we know that the public was blow away by the awe-inspiring 4,000 - twelvemonth - old goldwork on showing , ” said Rachel Crellin , Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Leicester and lead author of the research , in a statement seen by IFLScience . “ What our work has unveil is the humble rock toolkit that was used to make gold objects G of years ago . ”
This outfit had been quietly sit in the local Wiltshire Museum for decade , until Christina Tsoraki , a research associate from the University of Leicester ’s archaeology department , fare to analyze it as part of the university ’s “ Beyond the Three Age System ” project . Her subject field set up tincture amounts of gold still on five artifacts from the grave accent , which further analysis with electron microscopy and spectrometry would afterwards support to be Bronze Age in origin .
It was an of import uncovering , but not of necessity a surprising one : the burial mound at Upton Lovell G2a was already known to have gold residue on at least one of the grave goods find inside . But these young additions to the goldsmithing kit suggested something intriguing about the individuality of those buried inside – a mysterious figure who , until now , has split archaeological belief .
That ’s because , as well as the metalworking tools , whoever was interred in the Upton Lovell barrow also take with them more than 40 perforated ivory points , three perforated boar ’ tusk , a collection of urbane stone and beadwork , and more . It ’s the kind of collection you ’d expect to find in the grave accent of somebody really of import – a shaman , maybe , or somebody with high prestigiousness in the community .
Add to that the collection of twisted and reform battle axes , anvils , and awls , that were also find there , and the identity of this Bronze Age individual seems to grow ever more hazy . But according to the team behind the unexampled paper , it all makes sense – we just need a shift in perspective .
“ The [ person ] buried at Upton Lovell , close to Stonehenge , was a extremely skilled artificer , who specialized in establish gold objects , ” explicate Lisa Brown , curator at the Wiltshire Museum . “ His ceremonial cloak decorated with pierced animal osseous tissue , also suggest that he was a spiritual leader , and one of the few people in the former Bronze Age who understood the illusion of metalworking . ”
The costume and tools find in the grave accent , the squad intimate , designate not so much to the occupation deed of conveyance “ shaman ” or “ metalworker ” , but as coup d’oeil into the rich and mystifying process behind the ancient methods of working with gold .
“ Never static , these object changed and tilt , requiring modification , resort and reuse , ” the paper explains . “ They speak to a complex interweaving of bodies – human and non - human – and their wide-ranging history . ”
“ There is far more complexity here , in relation back , histories , gestures and processes , than could ever be catch under the recording label ‘ priest-doctor ’ , ‘ metalworker ’ or ‘ gold-worker ’ , ” it keep . “ What these dangerous goods tension , when attention is paid to their story , is quite dissimilar . They speak of cloth journeying , the color of Harlan Stone and the texture of gold capturing relations that flow across landscapes . ”
The composition can be find out in the journalAntiquity .
