An Independent Chronology for British Bronze Age Metalwork

The Results of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Programme

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11614070
AutoresStuart Needham (autor de correspondencia), Christopher B Ramsey (0000-0002-8641-9309), David Coombs (0009-0005-9091-5515), Caroline Cartwright (0009-0002-5257-9862), P Pettitt (0000-0002-6195-9376)
Año1997
Volumen154
Número1
Páginas55-107
Fecha de publicación1997-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaArchaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0066-5983 • E-ISSN: 2373-2288
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00665983.1997.11078784
OpenAlexW2034650466
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas71
Referencias citadas22

The paper presents and analyses 46 new radiocarbon measurements undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit with the aim of critically evaluating the existing chronology for Bronze Age metalwork. Samples chosen, from both old museum collections and more recent finds, were all organics in immediate physical contact with various types of bronze object; indeed the great majority were in direct functional association. Contextual integrity was further monitored by the identification of wood species and the estimation of growth stage, which was found consistently to be modest. The scientific procedures employed allowed the generation of dates with good precision and cross-referenced through control samples to the dendrochronological master curves.Although one of the first attempts in Europe to radiocarbon date Bronze Age metalwork systematically, the results have yielded a coherent picture which confirms the broad outline of the traditional sequence. However, calibration followed by statistical analysis does point to the need to stretch the chronology of the middle—late bronze age metalwork assemblages backwards, by varying amounts, revisions which were in part anticipated from recent dating research on the continent. Re-dating has been most dramatic for Wilburton metalwork, the dating of which had not been shifted since 1979. For clarity the newly proposed chronology is pegged to a series of single dates each marking the fulcrum of a transition between assemblages. While the current data set suggests that assemblage overlaps were not prolonged, more data will be needed if durations are to be estimated better. The existing results do, however, already show the potential for establishing more subtle trends in the development of Bronze Age metalwork

Accelerator mass spectrometry · Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Bronze · Bronze Age · Chronology · Geochronology · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Geology · History · Paleontology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology