Theme:
6. Material culture studies and societies
Session format:
Regular session
Title:
Moulding the World. Craftsmen and Craftsmanship between the Baltic and the Carpathians in the Light of Archaeometallurgical Research (2600-500 BC)
Content:
The mastery of metalworking skills occupies a special and significant place in the history of our culture. Particularly copper and its alloys, due to their physical properties (ductility, colour, strength, and remouldability) found a wide range of applications both on the functional/usability and symbolic/prestigious level. Bronze in the form of raw material or ready-made items crossed the borders between various social, ideological, and economic systems and manufacturing traditions, inspiring societal changes in many regions.
The versatility of this metal resulted in the supra-regional spread of some types of objects and manufacturing techniques in Central Europe, thus triggering the development of many local bronzeworking traditions. The rise of large metalworking centres indicates not only a high demand for bronze products but also the importance of trade contacts, often between distant communities.
The key issues in the interpretation of changes taking place during the Bronze Age (within general frameworks, 2600-500 BC) focus on an attempt to answer the questions of the processes behind the transmission of technical knowledge and metal objects and the dynamics of change. The most satisfying answers are provided by archaeometallurgical investigations, combining scientific experiments and multidisciplinary analysis by the cooperation between archaeologists and scientists.
The proposed session, in the widest sense, will be focused on an attempt to define the origins of traditions and networks of exchange of metalworking-related ideas, the dynamics of changes and technology transfer as well as the durability and innovativeness of metalworking solutions in the area stretching from the broadly defined Baltic region to the Carpathian Basin. This session welcomes papers that discuss:
• development of metalworking in the context of the product quality, with emphasis on the analysis of metal composition and production techniques,
• possibility of reconstructing bronze-working practices and techniques using the potential of interdisciplinary research.
Keywords:
Bronze Age, Archaeometallurgy, Craft Knowledge, Metalwork
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Mateusz Strózyk (Poland) 1
Co-organisers:
Viktória Kiss (Hungary) 2
Heide Nørgaard (Denmark) 3
Aldona Garbacz-Klempka (Poland) 4
Janusz Czebreszuk (Poland) 5
Affiliations:
1. Archaeological Museum in Poznań
2. Hungarian Academy of Sciences
3. Moesgaard Museum
4. AGH University of Science and Technology
5. Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT