Forging a New World Order? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Management of Metalworking and Ideological Change in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (2023) 30:565–610 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-022-09566-6 Forging a New World Order? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Management of Metalworking and Ideological Change in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin V. Orfanou1,2 · S. Amicone3,4 · V. Sava5 · B. O’Neill1,6 · L. E. F. Brown1,6 · C. Bruyère1,2 · B. P. C. Molloy1,2 Accepted: 18 May 2022 / Published online: 12 July 2022 © The Author(s) 2022 Abstract The Carpathian Basin was a highly influential centre of metalworking in the 2nd mil. BC. Nevertheless, despite the abundance of metal objects from the Late Bronze Age, the scarcity of contextually associated metalworking remains representing distinct phases of the metalworking cycle from this region is striking. Here, we explore Late Bronze Age metalworking through the lens of a uniquely complete metalworking assemblage from the site of Șagu from contexts spanning the sixteenth to early thirteenth century BC. This material provides insights into changes in craft organisation following socio-political change after the collapse of Middle Bronze Age tell-centred communities. Our approach combines analytical and experimental data together with contextual analysis of technical ceramics (crucible, mould, and furnace fragments) to reconstruct the metalworking chaîne opératoire and place Șagu in its broader cultural context. Analyses demonstrate clear technological choices in ceramic paste recipes and strong interlinkages between metallurgy and other crafts practised on site, from domestic pottery production to building structures. Experimental replications reveal important intrinsic and experiential aspects of metallurgical activities at Șagu. Evidence on the spatial organisation of metallurgical workflows (routine sequence of actions and decisions) suggests they incorporated a high degree of visibility, which marks a distinct change in the use of craft space compared to the context of densely occupied Middle Bronze Age tells nearby. Combined, our archaeometric, experimental, and contextual results illustrate how changes in metalworking activities in the Late Bronze Age Carpathian Basin were deeply embedded in an ideological shift in the aftermath of the breakdown of Middle Bronze Age tells and the emergence of new social structures. Keywords Late Bronze Age · Carpathian Basin · Crucible metallurgy · Technical ceramics · Experimental archaeology * B. P. C. Molloy Extended author information available on the last page of the article 13 Vol.:(0123456789) 566 V. Orfanou et al. Introduction Following hundreds of thousands of years of stone tool use, metal took as little as 3000 years to progress from a rare, prestige material to a staple resource defining routine social practices. By the mid-2nd mil. BC, Europe was defined by these metalusing societies. Wider social strategies of wealth, power, display, and control facilitated this transformation through craft environments. The choices made by past craftspeople extended beyond raw materials or tools used, as they were also socially and culturally defined (Pfaffenberger, 1992). The latter places the transfer of technological know-how at the heart of social networks. Thus, the management of metalworking can reflect differentiated political and ideological thought packages (e.g. see Zori, 2019), as much as technological decision making within its human–environment interaction context (Sofaer, 2006). Here, we present analysis of a uniquely complete Late Bronze Age (LBA) metalworking assemblage to provide new insight into how changes in craft organisation were instrumentalised following a period of significant social change. This covers the collapse of the political infrastructures of the Middle Bronze Age in the southeastern Carpathian Basin ca. 1600–1550 BC and the reconfiguration of societies in the following LBA I and II (1600/1550–1200 BC) periods. Recent research has shed new light on the origins of global metallurgy in southeastern Europe during the Neolithic. The transformative potential of metallurgy as a craft fosters creative and cultural expressions through its practice, along with the activities metal products enable (Jørgensen et al., 2018; Radivojević et al., 2021; Sofaer, 2006). By the Late Bronze Age, metalwork had become ubiquitous to the extent that it shaped lifeways through routine activities while also forming a core component of economic and ritual expressions of power across Europe (Brück & Fontijn, 2013; Earle et al., 2015; Fontijn, 2019). Archaeometric research has revealed insights into the circulation of metal as a resource and into object biographies (through metallography, metalwork wear analysis, and fragmentation studies) that explore specific human-object interactions over time (e.g. Dolfini & Crellin, 2016, Horn & von Holstein, 2017, Knight, 2019, Ling et al., 2019, Mödlinger & Trebsche, 2021, Mödlinger, 2011, 2021, Molloy, 2018, Nørgaard et al., 2021, Radivojević et al., 2019, Radivojević et al., 2021, Tarbay et al., 2021). Fewer studies have focussed on craft choices through the lens of particular technical ceramics, and these typically focus on specific components of the chaîne opératoire (Amicone et al., 2020b, Binggeli, 2011; Eklöv Pettersson, 2012; Ó Faoláin 2004; Needham 1980; Sahlén, 2013). Considering Ottaway’s (2001: Fig. 1) or Molloy and Mödlinger’s (2020: Table 1) models of the metalworking cycle, there are notable gaps in our knowledge because much focus has been placed on the finished products and less on the creative, organisational, and power dynamics which can elucidate the social context enabling the metal consumption revolution that characterised the Late Bronze Age (Vandkilde, 2016). While this is often a limitation dictated by the archaeological record itself, the study of the role of Bronze Age metalwork and metalworking has nonetheless gravitated towards finished objects and their social roles. The status and identity of bronze workers in prehistory, and how the organisation of their craft articulated with elite agendas of resource management, has often been built on ethnography, theory, or mortuary archaeology, though recent work takes greater account of Budd and Taylor’s call to better integrate theory 13 Forging a New World Order? Interdisciplinary Perspectives… 567 Fig. 1  Map of the Carpathian Basin showing the locations of sites mentioned in the text and major rivers (base map from The European Environment Agency; www.eea.europa.eu) with archaeometric approaches (Budd & Taylor, 1995; see also Brandherm, 2009; Iles & Childs, 2014; Jantzen, 2008; Jockenhövel, 2018; Neipert, 2006; Nessel, 2013; Rowlands, 1971). Broader studies of the Bronze Age metalworking chaîne opératoire have focussed on regional overviews, theoretical reflections on practice, or general technical principles, which provide top-down perspectives on the period in Europe (Kuijpers, 2018a; Molloy & Mödlinger, 2020; Ottaway, 2001). The study of (...truncated)