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Collapsing Commodities or Lavish Offerings? Understanding Massive Metalwork Deposition at L angton M atravers, Dorset During the B ronze A ge– I ron A ge Transition
Author(s) -
Roberts Benjamin W.,
Boughton Dorothee,
Dinwiddy Michael,
Doshi Nisha,
Fitzpatrick Andrew P.,
Hook Duncan,
Meeks Nigel,
Mongiatti Aude,
Woodward Ann,
Woodward Peter J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/ojoa.12064
Subject(s) - hoard , context (archaeology) , bronze , archaeology , tin , bronze age , metallurgy , geography , materials science
Summary The discovery of 373 intact and broken tin‐bronze socketed axes accompanied by 404 fragments in four pits at L angton M atravers collectively represents one of the largest hoards found to date in prehistoric B ritain and Ireland. They were very probably never meant to be used as axes as the very high levels of tin they contain would have made them brittle. Many were poorly finished, with the majority still containing their casting cores. The axes are typologically dated to the L lyn F awr metalwork phase (c.800–600 BC ) and span the B ronze A ge/ I ron A ge transition, when the production, circulation and deposition of bronze appear to have been substantially reduced throughout north‐west E urope. By placing the L angton M atravers hoard(s) in a broader metallurgical, material and archaeological context, existing theories for this phenomenon, such as the preference for iron, a collapse in bronze supply, or the sharp devaluation of a social or ritual ‘bronze standard’, are evaluated. It is proposed that the L angton M atravers axes belong to a short phase in the centuries‐long processes underlying the changing roles of bronze and iron.