In Bronze Age Europe, an enormous amount of metalwork was buried in the ground and never retrieved. Patterns in these finds show that this was a deliberate practice: people systematically deposited... Show moreIn Bronze Age Europe, an enormous amount of metalwork was buried in the ground and never retrieved. Patterns in these finds show that this was a deliberate practice: people systematically deposited valuable metal objects in specific places in the landscape, even in non-metalliferous regions. Although this practice seems puzzling from our modern perspective, these patterns demonstrate that this is not simply a matter of irrational human behaviour. Instead, there were supra-regionally shared ideas and conventions behind this practice.This book aims to acquire a better understanding of these ideas and conventions. By systematically investigating the objects and places that people selected for metalwork depositions, the logic behind the practice of selective metalwork deposition is unravelled.This book focuses specifically on the emergence of the practice in Denmark, northern Germany, and the Netherlands, a non-metalliferous region that has not been studied as a whole before, despite striking similarities in the archaeological record. Starting from the first introduction of metal, the emergence and development of selective metalwork depositions is examined and followed over time. In addition to a new chronological and geographical depth to research on metalwork depositions, this book provides a detailed catalogue of the metalwork from the research area. Show less
Throughout northern Europe, thousands of burial mounds were erected in the third millennium BCE. Starting in the Corded Ware culture, individual people were being buried underneath these mounds,... Show moreThroughout northern Europe, thousands of burial mounds were erected in the third millennium BCE. Starting in the Corded Ware culture, individual people were being buried underneath these mounds, often equipped with an almost rigid set of grave goods. This practice continued in the second half of the third millennium BCE with the start of the Bell Beaker phenomenon. In large parts of Europe, a ‘typical’ set of objects was placed in graves, known as the ‘Bell Beaker package’. This book focusses on the significance and meaning of these Late Neolithic graves. Why were people buried in a seemingly standardized manner, what did this signify and what does this reveal about these individuals, their role in society, their cultural identity and the people that buried them? By performing in-depth analyses of all the individual grave goods from Dutch graves, which includes use-wear analysis and experiments, the biography of grave goods is explored. How were they made, used and discarded? Subsequently the nature of these graves themselves are explored as contexts of deposition, and how these are part of a much wider ‘sacrificial landscape’. A novel and comprehensive interpretation is presented that shows how the objects from graves were connected with travel, drinking ceremonies and maintaining long-distance relationships. Show less