The Flintknapper and the Bronzesmith
Olausson, Deborah LU
(2013)
p.447-456
- Abstract
- The labels “stone” age and “bronze” age reflect what archaeologists perceive as trends in material culture, but our perspective is skewed by a number of factors such as formation processes and our need for dividing the temporal continuum into discrete units. The focus of the paper is on examining this transition from the perspective of the craftspeople who were making the objects which archaeologists perceive as central for defining a stone age and a bronze age. Southern Scandinavia is the region in focus. Conditions and constraints on the flintknapper and on the bronzesmith, respectively, are compared and contrasted. No specialists can be discerned in the realm of flintknapping. As would be expected of a new technology, domestic... (More)
- The labels “stone” age and “bronze” age reflect what archaeologists perceive as trends in material culture, but our perspective is skewed by a number of factors such as formation processes and our need for dividing the temporal continuum into discrete units. The focus of the paper is on examining this transition from the perspective of the craftspeople who were making the objects which archaeologists perceive as central for defining a stone age and a bronze age. Southern Scandinavia is the region in focus. Conditions and constraints on the flintknapper and on the bronzesmith, respectively, are compared and contrasted. No specialists can be discerned in the realm of flintknapping. As would be expected of a new technology, domestic copper/bronze casting begins somewhat hesitantly. The number of forms is limited and metal alloys are heterogeneous. By Period IB of the Bronze Age, however, we see a bifurcation whereby we can distinguish between elaborate and complicated bronzeworking using a standardized raw material on the one hand, and simpler, less complicated crafting, on the other. This confirms Kristian Kristiansen’s conclusion from 1987 (p. 46) that bronze specialists had emerged by Period II. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3917501
- author
- Olausson, Deborah
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Flintknapper, bronzesmith, specialists, bronze, copper, flint
- host publication
- Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen
- editor
- Bergerbrant, Sophie and Sabatini, Serena
- pages
- 447 - 456
- publisher
- Archaeopress
- ISBN
- 978 1 4073 1126 5
- project
- Social Dimensions of Technological Change
- Handmade. Crafting and social strategies in the Scandinavian Neolithic
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- aa74680f-f57a-4e1a-b15a-97063b5c8d02 (old id 3917501)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 10:05:36
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 20:56:41
@inbook{aa74680f-f57a-4e1a-b15a-97063b5c8d02,
abstract = {{The labels “stone” age and “bronze” age reflect what archaeologists perceive as trends in material culture, but our perspective is skewed by a number of factors such as formation processes and our need for dividing the temporal continuum into discrete units. The focus of the paper is on examining this transition from the perspective of the craftspeople who were making the objects which archaeologists perceive as central for defining a stone age and a bronze age. Southern Scandinavia is the region in focus. Conditions and constraints on the flintknapper and on the bronzesmith, respectively, are compared and contrasted. No specialists can be discerned in the realm of flintknapping. As would be expected of a new technology, domestic copper/bronze casting begins somewhat hesitantly. The number of forms is limited and metal alloys are heterogeneous. By Period IB of the Bronze Age, however, we see a bifurcation whereby we can distinguish between elaborate and complicated bronzeworking using a standardized raw material on the one hand, and simpler, less complicated crafting, on the other. This confirms Kristian Kristiansen’s conclusion from 1987 (p. 46) that bronze specialists had emerged by Period II.}},
author = {{Olausson, Deborah}},
booktitle = {{Counterpoint: Essays in Archaeology and Heritage Studies in Honour of Professor Kristian Kristiansen}},
editor = {{Bergerbrant, Sophie and Sabatini, Serena}},
isbn = {{978 1 4073 1126 5}},
keywords = {{Flintknapper; bronzesmith; specialists; bronze; copper; flint}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{447--456}},
publisher = {{Archaeopress}},
title = {{The Flintknapper and the Bronzesmith}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5458958/3957769.pdf}},
year = {{2013}},
}