Varna and the social context of early metallurgy

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3718697
AutoresColin Renfrew (autor correspondente)
Ano1978
Volume52
Fascículo206
Páginas199-203
Data de publicação1978-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003598x00072197
OpenAlexW2238590404
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas30
Referências citadas10

The discovery of what is demonstrably, on the basis of present knowledge, the earliest major assemblage of gold artifacts to be unearthed anywhere in the world is an event of some note, comparable in significance with Schliemann's find of the Great Treasure at Troy more than a century ago. The finds at Varna must be at least 1,500 years older than those of Troy 11, yet apart from the original announcement by their excavator (Ivanov, 1975), and useful, although brief, descriptions by Gimbutas (1977 a and b), the Varna cemetery has so far excited little archaeological comment. The publication by Ivanov (1978) of the first well-illustrated account of the cemetery allows an assessment of its importance. Its status as the oldest substantial find of gold emphasizes the position of south-east Europe as an early and independent centre of metallurgical innovation. But the gold is only one of several materials indicative of high status in the cemetery: what had hitherto seemed a moderately egalitarian society now displays clear evidence of salient ranking. This in turn has major implications for our understanding of the social context in which early metalworking in Europe developed and prospered

Ancient history · Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology) · Context (archaeology) · Treasure · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts