Shifting techniques in perforating animal teeth and metal objects. Some examples from Early Bronze Age contexts

Justyna Baron; Kamil Nowak

doi:10.23858/SA/76.2024.1.3716

Published: 2024-10-14

Vol. 76 No. 1 (2024)

Shifting techniques in perforating animal teeth and metal objects. Some examples from Early Bronze Age contexts

Justyna Baron , Kamil Nowak

Sprawozdania Archeologiczne

Section: Field Survey and Materials

https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/76.2024.1.3716

Abstract

This paper addresses shifting techniques between manufacturing two types of raw materials. On the one hand, they are copper-based alloys that were processed in the Early Bronze Age (c. 2300-1600 BCE) only by a few craftspersons, and, on the other hand, well-known and commonly processed animal hard tissues. At least one technique we observed on the metal objects originates from those of working with animal hard tissues, while the other one can be found in already published evidence. Application of techniques known from bone and antler processing in metallurgy indicates cross-craft communication and learning processes.

Keywords:

bone and antler, archaeometallurgy, dagger, Bronze Age

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Aleksandra Gawron-Szymczyk, Dagmara Łaciak, Justyna Baron, To smooth or not to smooth? A traceological and experimental approach to surface processing of Bronze and Iron Age ceramics , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 72 No. 2 (2020): Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
Justyna Baron, Aleksandra Hrynkiewicz-Bogenryter, Flint and bronze spear and arrowheads from the Bronze and Iron Age settlement at Ruszowice in SW Poland , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 74 No. 1 (2022): Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
Kamil Nowak, Dawid Sych, Traceology of metalwork - limitations and new perspectives , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 76 No. 1 (2024): Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
Justyna Baron, Adami Golański, Katarzyna Schellner, Problems of interpretation of early Iron Age fenced settlements. A case study of site 8 from Zabrodzie, Wrocław district = Problem interpretacji osad z ogrodzeniami z wczesnej epoki żelaza na przykładzie stanowiska w Zabrodziu, pow. wrocławski , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 63 (2011)
Justyna Baron, Łukasz Oleszczak, Wojciech Twardowski, Tresta Rządowa, stanowisko 1. Cmentarzysko kultury łużyckiej z Polski Środkowej (= Ocalone Dziedzictwo Archeologiczne 1). Pękowice-Kraków 2001: Wydawnictwo i Pracownia Archeologiczna Profil, Instytut Archeologii Uniw , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 64 (2012)
Kamil Nowak, Dawid Sych, Beata Badura, Paweł Derkowski, The metalwork hoard from Czarków, Gliwice District, Silesian Voivodeship: discovery context, elemental composition, and wear analysis , Sprawozdania Archeologiczne: Vol. 77 No. 1 (2025): Sprawozdania Archeologiczne

Download files

PDF

Citation rules

Baron, J., & Nowak, K. (2024). Shifting techniques in perforating animal teeth and metal objects. Some examples from Early Bronze Age contexts. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, 76(1), 615–628. https://doi.org/10.23858/SA/76.2024.1.3716

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Armbruster B. R. 2000. Goldschmiedekunst und Bronzetechnik. Studien zum Metallhandwerk der Atlantischen Bronzezeit auf der Iberischen Halbinsel (= Monographies instrumentum 15). Montagnac: Mergoil.
Google Scholar

Baron J., Diakowski M., Kufel-Diakowska B., Nowak K. and Sych D. 2024. From flint to metal? Techniques of bone and antler processing in the early Bronze Age Poland. In J. A López Padilla and N. Provënzano (eds), Metal And Worked Bone Materials In Prehistoric Europe. From Iberia to the Carpathians. Alicante: MARQ Museo Arqueológico de Alicante, 143-165.
Google Scholar

Baron J., Maciejewski M., Jarys, R., Kuźbik R., Łaciak D., Łucejko J. J., Mackiewicz M., Miazga B., Nowak K. and Sych D. 2019. Phenomenon of Repetition: Deposits from Karmin. Wrocław: Uniwersytet Wrocławski.
Google Scholar

Bell D. 2016. Rivet-hole production in the Bronze Age. The Journal of Irish Archaeology 25, 17-30.
Google Scholar

Bianco Peroni V. 1970. Die Schwerter in Italien. Le spade nell’Italia continentale (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV/1). München: C. H. Beck.
Google Scholar

Biehl P. F. and Rassamakin Y. Ya. (eds) 2008. Import and Imitation in Archaeology (= Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie Undkulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes 11). Langenweißbach: Beier&Beran.
Google Scholar

Branigan K. 1967. The Early Bronze Age Daggers of Crete. The Annual of the British School at Athens 62, 211-239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068245400014155
Google Scholar

Choyke A. M. 2008. Shifting Meaning and Value through Imitation in the European Late Neolithic. In P. F. Biehl and Rassamakin Y. Ya (eds), Import and Imitation in Archaeology (= Schriften des Zentrums für Archäologie Undkulturgeschichte des Schwarzmeerraumes 11). Langenweißbach: Beier&Beran, 5-21.
Google Scholar

Costin C. L. 1991. Craft Specialization: Issues in Defining, Documenting, and Explaining the Organization of Production. Archaeological Method and Theory 3, 1-56.
Google Scholar

Diakowski M 2019. Badania technologiczno-funkcjonalne neolitycznych i wczesnobrązowych przedmiotów kościanych. In M. Furmanek (ed.), Pierwsi rolnicy i hodowcy na Śląsku. Dialog interdisciplinary. Wrocław: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 357-373.
Google Scholar

Fontana F., Cristiani E., Bertola S., Briois F., Guerreschi A. and Ziggiotti S. 2020. A snapshot of Late Mesolithic life through death: An appraisal of the lithic and osseous grave goods from the Castelnovian burial of Mondeval de Sora (Dolomites, Italy). PLoS ONE 15/8: e0237573. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237573
Google Scholar

Gál E. 2011. Prehistoric antler- and bone tools from Kaposújlak-Várdomb (South-Western Hungary) with special regard to the Early Bronze Age implements. In J. Baron and B. Kufel-Diakowska (eds), Written in Bones. Studies on technological and social contexts of past faunal skeletal remains. Wrocław: Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, 137-164.
Google Scholar

Gál E. and Bondár M. 2022. Drilled canine ornaments from a special Late Copper Age Grave / Kutyaszemfogból Készült Díszek Egy Különleges Késő Rézkori Sírból. Archaeometriai Műhely 19/1, 43-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55023/issn.1786-271X.2022-004
Google Scholar

Gurova M. and Bonsall C. 2017. Experimental Replication of Stone, Bone and Shell Beads from Early Neolithic Sites in Southeast Europe. In D. E. Bar-Yosef Mayer, C. Bonsall and A. M. Choyke (eds), Not just for show. The Archaeology of Beads, Beadwork and Personal Ornaments. Oxford & Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 159-167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv13pk763.15
Google Scholar

Gwinnett A. J. and Gorelick L. 1998. A Brief History of Drills and Drilling. BEADS: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 10, 49-56.
Google Scholar

Horn Ch. 2014. Studien zu den europäischen Stabdolchen. Teil 1 (= Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 246). Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH.
Google Scholar

Horn Ch. 2017. Combat and ritual — Wear analysis on metal halberds from the Danish Isles and the Cimbrian Peninsula. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 14, 515-529. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.027
Google Scholar

Horn Ch. and von Holstein I. C. C. 2017. Dents in our confidence: The interaction of damage and material properties in interpreting use-wear on copper-alloy weaponry. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 81, 90-100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.04.002
Google Scholar

Hosler D. 1994. The Sounds and Colors of Power. The Sacred Metallurgical Technology of Ancient West Mexico. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Google Scholar

Jarecki H. and Volker A. R. 2000. Die Erkundung der spätbronze- bis früheisenzeitlichen Grabenanlage von Wennungen, Ldkr. Burgenlandkreis. Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte 83, 109-124.
Google Scholar

Jones A. M. and Quinnell H. 2013. Daggers in the West: Early Bronze Age Daggers and Knives in the South-west Peninsula. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 79, 165-191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ppr.2013.4
Google Scholar

Jordan P. 2015. Technology as Human Social Tradition Cultural Transmission among Hunter-Gatherers (= Origins of Human Behavior and Culture 7). Oakland, California: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520276925.001.0001
Google Scholar

Kienlin T. L. 2013. Copper and Bronze: Bronze Age Metalworking in Context. In H. Fokkens and A. Harding (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the European Bronze Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 414-436. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199572861.013.0023
Google Scholar

Kneisel J. 2010. Wyroby z kości i poroża z wykopów 14-17. In J. Müller, J. Czebreszuk and J. Kneisel (eds), Bruszczewo II. Ausgrabungen und Forschungen in einer prähistorischen Siedlungskammer Großpolens. Badania mikroregionu osadniczego z terenu Wielkopolski (= Studien zur Archäologie in Ostmitteleuropa, Studia nad Pradziejami Europy Środkowej 6/1). Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, 663-850.
Google Scholar

Kopiasz J. 2004. Cmentarzysko kultury unietyckiej na stanowisku Milejowice 19, powiat Wrocław, woj. dolnośląskie. Archeologiczne Zeszyty Autostradowe Instytutu Archeologii i Etnologii PAN 3/2, 31-59.
Google Scholar

Łesiuk M. 2013. Sprawozdanie i opracowanie z ratowniczych badań archeologicznych związanych z budową gimnazjum w Grębocicach, pow. polkowicki. Stan. Grębocice 24. Unpublished excavation report.
Google Scholar

Markiewicz J. E. 2016. Osada z młodszego okresu przedrzymskiego na stanowisku Bytomin (Bytnik) 6 gm. Głogów. In J. E. Markiewicz and A. Błażejewski (eds), Osada i cmentarzysko z epoki żelaza na stanowiskach Bytomin (Bytnik) 1 i 6. Wrocław: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 67-145.
Google Scholar

Markiewicz J. E. and Diakowski M. 2016. The wild boar at the Oder shore: on a boar’s tusk ivory plate from the early Bronze Age found in Bytomin (woj. dolnośląskie/PL). Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 46/1, 43-56.
Google Scholar

Mittermair N. 2022. Take it to the grave. Traces of Production, Post-Casting Treatment and Use of Metal Objects from Urnfield Cemeteries in Lower Austria. Archaeologia Austriaca 106, 65-115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1553/archaeologia106s65
Google Scholar

Mozgała-Swach M. 2019. Kiedy pojawiły się pierwsze metale… In M. Furmanek (ed.), Pierwsi rolnicy i hodowcy na Śląsku. Dialog interdyscyplinarny. Wrocław: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 375-386.
Google Scholar

Novák P. 2011. Die Dolche in Tschechien (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde VI/13). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Google Scholar

Nowak K. 2020. Badania śladów produkcji oraz śladów użytkowania zachowanych na przedmiotach ze skarbu z Marcinowic. In A. Michalak and E. Przechrzta (eds), Marcinowice. Skarb przedmiotów metalowych z wczesnej epoki brązu. Zielona Góra: Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Muzeum Archeologicznego Środkowego Nadodrza oraz Muzeum Archeologiczne Środkowego Nadodrza w Zielonej Górze, 75-99.
Google Scholar

Ó Faoláin S. 2004. Bronze Artefact Production in Late Bronze Age Ireland. A survey (= BAR British Series 382). Oxford: Archaeopress. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30861/9781841716794
Google Scholar

Orłowska J. 2015. How Did They Drill That? – A Few Observations on the Possible Methods for Making Large-sized Holes in Antler. EXARC Journal 2015/2, 1-15.
Google Scholar

Orłowska J. and Osipowicz G. 2021. Mesolithic bone adzes and mattock heads from Poland. Some suggestions on their technology and function. In S. Beyries, C. Hamon and Y. Maigrot (eds), Beyond Use-Wear Traces: Going from tools to people by means of archaeological wear and residue analyses. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 143-154.
Google Scholar

Osipowicz G., Orłowska J., Piličiauskas G., Piličiauskienė G. and Bosiak M. 2019. Osseous Points and Harpoon Heads From Đventoji Subneolithic Sites, Coastal Lithuania. First Traceological Insight into The Way They Were Produced And Used. Lietuvos Archeologija 46, 147-169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33918/25386514-046005
Google Scholar

Osipowicz G., Piličiauskienė G., Orłowska J. and Piličiauskas G. 2020. An occasional ornament, part of clothes or just a gift for ancestors? The results of traceological studies of teeth pendants from the Subneolithic sites in Šventoji, Lithuania. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29, 102130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102130
Google Scholar

Overbeck M. 2018. Die Gießformen in West- und Süddeutschland (Saarland, Rheinland-Pfalz, Hessen, Baden- Württemberg, Bayern) mit einem Beitrag von A. Jockenhövel, Alteuropäische Gräber der Kupferzeit, Bronzezeit und Älteren Eisenzeit mit Beigaben aus dem Gießereiwesen (Gießformen, Düsen, Tiegel) (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde XIX/3). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25162/9783515121064
Google Scholar

Perucchetti L., Northover J. P. and David-Elbiali M. 2020. What is a dagger? A metallurgical interpretation of three metal daggers from western Switzerland dated from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 30, 102251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102251
Google Scholar

Petriščáková K., Verčík M., Pavúk P., Limburský P., Daněček D. and Ernée M. 2020. Od nástrojov a zbraní k symbolom: analýza pracovných stôp na kovových dýkach staršej doby bronzovej v Čechách: Pilotná štúdia. Slovenská archeológia 68 (Suppl. 1), 459-469. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/slovarch.2020.suppl.1.39
Google Scholar

Pratsch S. 2011. Mesolithic antler artefacts in the North European Plain. In J. Baron and B. Kufel-Diakowska (eds), Written in Bones. Studies on technological and social contexts of past faunal skeletal remains. Wrocław: Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, 79-92.
Google Scholar

Przybyła M. S. and Jędrysik J. 2018. A classification of objects made of bone, antler, tooth and horn from the Early Bronze Age fortified settlement in Maszkowice. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 70, 269-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23858/SA70.2018.013
Google Scholar

Rowlands M. 1971. The Archaeological Interpretation of Prehistoric Metalworking. World Archaeology 3/2, 210-224. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1969.9979502
Google Scholar

Schauer P. 1971. Die Schwerter in Süddeutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz I (Griffplatten-, Griffangel- und Griffzungenschwerter) (= Prähistorische Bronzefunde IV/2). München: C. H. Beck. Schwenzer S. 2004. Frühbronzezeitliche Vollgriffdolche. Typologische, chronologische und technische Studien auf der Grundlage einer Materialaufnahme von Hans-Jürgen Hundt (= Kataloge vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Altertümer 36). Mainz-Bonn: RGZM.
Google Scholar

Tarbay J. G. 2019. Moulds for large daggers. Unique finds from the Bronze Age Hatvan-Strázsa-Hegy Tell. Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 70, 5-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/072.2019.70.1.1
Google Scholar

Venditti F., McCartin M. J., Ostermann M.-L., Nicholas J., Conard N. J. and Wolf S. 2023. Foxes in Retrospect – Unraveling Human-Fox Relationships through Fox Tooth Ornaments in the Swabian Jura. Quaternary 2023, 6, 50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/quat6030050
Google Scholar

Wilczyński J., Szczepanek A., Wojdal P., Diakowski M., Wojenka M. and Sobieraj D. 2014. A Mid Upper Palaeolithic Child Burial from Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 26, 151-162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2405
Google Scholar