Ritual in early Bronze Age grave goods : an examination of ritual and dress equipment from Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age graves in England

The exotic and impressive grave goods from burials of the ‘Wessex Culture’ in Early Bronze Age Britain are well known and have inspired influential social and economic hypotheses, invoking the former existence of chiefs, warriors and merchants and high-ranking pastoralists. Alternative theories have sought to explain how display of such objects was related to religious and ritual activity rather than to economic status, and that groups of artifacts found in certain graves may have belonged to religious specialists. This volume is the result of a major research project that aimed to investigate Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age grave goods in relation to their possible use as special dress accessories or as equipment employed within ritual activities and ceremonies. Many items of adornment can be shown to have formed elements of elaborate costumes, probably worn by individuals, both male and female, who held important ritual roles within society. Furthermore, the analysis has shown that various categories of object long interpreted as mundane types of tool were in fact items of bodily adornment or implements used in ritual contexts, or in the special embellishment of the human body. Although never intended to form a complete catalogue of all the relevant artifacts from England the volume provides an extensive, and intensively illustrated, overview of a large proportion of the grave goods from English burial sites. Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Contents 4 Acknowledgements 8 List of Figures and Tables 10 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 23 The resource and investigative programme 23 Site database 24 Object identification 26 Examination process 29 Scientific analysis 31 Burial and age criteria 32 CHAPTER 3: ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT I: DAGGERS, POMMELS AND BELT FITTINGS 38 3.1: Daggers and knives 38 3.2: Pommels 60 3.3: Belt hooks 69 3.4: Belt and pulley rings 74 CHAPTER 4: ITEMS OF EQUIPMENT II: STONE, BONE, COPPER ALLOY AND MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS 84 4.1: Sponge finger stones 84 4.2: Grooved stones 88 4.3: Perforated stones 91 4.4: Worked stones without perforations 96 4.5: Bone and antler spatulae 98 4.6: Copper alloy awls 104 4.7: Bone points 112 4.8: Bone tweezers 125 4.9: Bone tubes 129 4.10: Bone plates 133 4.11: Bone toggles 136 4.12: Miscellaneous objects of bone and antler 139 4.13: Miscellaneous objects of copper alloy 146 4.14: Miscellaneous objects made from jet and jet-like materials 151 CHAPTER 5: ITEMS OF PERSONAL ADORNMENT I: JET AND JET-LIKE MATERIALS, AMBER, BONE AND COPPER ALLOY 156 5.1: Tusks and teeth 156 5.2: V-perforated buttons 163 5.3: Button sets of jet and jet-like materials (with Alison Sheridan) 176 5.4: Earrings and tress rings 187 5.5: Dress pins 190 5.6: Studs (with Alison Sheridan) 197 5.7: Beads 202 5.8: Spacer plates 204 5.9: Pendants and individual necklace fasteners 208 5.10: Decorated ornaments of copper alloy 219 CHAPTER 6: ITEMS OF PERSONAL ADORNMENT II: GOLD AND THE REGALIA FROM BUSH BARROW 224 6.1: Gold Objects 224 6.1.1 Mere G6a, Wiltshire 224 6.1.2 Wilsford-cum-Lake G47, 49 or 50, Duke’s barrow 20, Wiltshire 225 6.1.3 Little Cressingham, Norfolk 228 6.1.4 Upton Lovell G2e, Wiltshire 235 6.1.5 Wilsford G8, Wiltshire 244 6.1.6 Manton barrow, Preshute G1a, Wiltshire 246 6.1.7 Clandon barrow, Winterborne St Martin G31, Clandon, Dorset 247 6.2: The Regalia from Wilsford G5, Wiltshire (Bush Barrow) 250 6.3: Discussion: Reappraising ‘Wessex’ Goldwork 270 Background 270 Early developments 270 Sheet-gold covers 271 Wessex and the goldwork repertoire of the early second millennium 272 Conclusions 275 CHAPTER 7: NECKLACES I: DISC BEADS AND SPACER PLATE NECKLACES 276 7.1 Disc bead necklaces 276 7.1.1 East Yorkshire 276 7.1.2 Wessex 292 7.1.3 Other regions 296 7.2 Spacer plate necklaces of jet and jet-like materials 301 7.2.1 East Yorkshire 301 7.2.2 Peak District 310 7.2.3 Other regions 340 7.3 Discussion of disc bead and spacer plate necklaces of jet and jet-like materials 356 Introduction 356 Origins and development of the two traditions 356 Contexts and associations 363 Raw materials 370 Manufacture and the nature of production 372 Life histories of the necklaces 376 7.4 Amber necklaces 378 7.4.1 Wessex 378 7.4.2 Other regions 392 7.4.3 General discussion 396 Contexts, dating and associations 396 Composition variation 399 Raw material and manufacture 401 Life histories 402 CHAPTER 8: NECKLACES II: SIMPLE AND COMPOSITE NECKLACES 404 8.1 Simple necklaces with components of variable shape 404 8.1.1 Jet and jet-like materials 404 8.1.2 Amber 413 8.1.3 Bone 418 8.1.4 Fossil 419 8.1.5 Stone 422 8.2 Composite necklaces with two materials 423 8.2.1 Jet and jet-like disc beads and amber 423 8.2.2 Jet and jet-like beads, buttons and disc beads, and bone 425 8.2.3 Fossil and fired clay disc beads 426 8.2.4 Jet and jet-like materials and amber 427 8.2.5 Jet and jet-like materials and faience 432 8.2.6 Jet and jet-like materials and stone 439 8.2.7 Jet and jet-like materials and bone 440 8.2.8 Amber and bone 442 8.2.9 Bone and fossil 443 8.3 Composite necklaces with three materials 444 8.3.1 Jet and jet-like materials, amber and shell 444 8.3.2 Gold, amber, and jet and jet-like materials 446 8.3.3 Jet and jet-like materials, amber and faience 446 8.3.4 Amber, faience and stone 453 8.3.5 Red glass, stone and fossil 455 8.3.6 Stone, fossil and bone 455 8.4 Composite necklaces with four materials 457 8.4.1 Gold, jet and jet-like materials, amber and fossil 457 8.4.2 Jet and jet-like materials, faience, stone and shell 458 8.4.3 Jet and jet-like materials, amber, faience and bone 460 8.4.4 Jet and jet-like materials, bone, fossil and shell 460 8.5 Composite necklaces with five materials 463 8.5.1 Gold, jet and jet-like materials, amber, stone and fossil 463 8.5.2 Gold, jet and jet-like materials, bronze, amber and bone 465 8.5.3 Jet and jet-like materials, amber, faience, stone and fossil 465 8.6 Discussion 469 Material 470 Morphology 470 Recycling and heirlooms 471 Dating and associations 471 Analysis. 471 CHAPTER 9: CHRONOLOGY 476 Introduction 476 Chronological divisions 477 Chalcolithic grave goods 478 Early Bronze Age grave goods 478 Grave goods found in both the Beaker and Early Bronze Age periods 481 Conclusions 485 CHAPTER 10: OBJECT LIFE STORIES 487 Introduction 487 Variation in condition between similar objects 488 Variation in condition within an assemblage 490 Objects in child or adolescent burials 503 Fragmented objects 503 Conclusions 507 CHAPTER 11: OBJECT FUNCTION 511 Morphology, material and manufacture 511 Use wear 515 Placement of objects with the body 522 Age and sex 532 Associations 542 CHAPTER 12: REGIONAL VARIATION 554 Introduction 554 Graves and bodies 555 Object distributions 556 Conclusions 565 Appendix 12.1 567 CHAPTER 13: CONCLUSIONS 570 BIBLIOGRAPHY 576 INDEX 586 The exotic and impressive grave goods from burials of the Wessex Culture in Early Bronze Age Britain are well known and have inspired influential social and economic hypotheses, invoking the former existence of chiefs, warriors and merchants and high-ranking pastoralists. Alternative theories have sought to explain how display of such objects was related to religious and ritual activity rather than to economic status, and that groups of artefacts found in certain graves may have belonged to religious specialists. This volume is the result of a major research project that aimed to investigate Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age grave goods in relation to their possible use as special dress accessories or as equipment employed within ritual activities and ceremonies. Many items of adornment can be shown to have formed elements of elaborate costumes, probably worn by individuals, both male and female, who held important ritual roles within society. Furthermore, the analysis has shown that various categories of object long interpreted as mundane types of tool were in fact items of bodily adornment or implements used in ritual contexts, or in the special embellishment of the human body