Peche-Quilichini K., Paolini-Saez H., Blitte H., Lachenal T., Leandri F., Lehoerff A. et Quilliec B. (eds.) – « Âge du Bronze, Âge de Guerre ». Violence organisée et expressions de la force au IIe millénaire avant J.-C., 2023
Towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, encounters in the western Mediterranean between people ... more Towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, encounters in the western Mediterranean between people from diverse cultural backgrounds had increased. On the one hand, this resulted in peaceful exchange and significant technology transfer, on the other hand some forms of intergroup violence appear to have intensified. In addition to local feuds, the forceful acquisition of belongings from their owners without any exchange, by the means of raiding or piracy, would have been common. Those who transported goods or commodities over longer distances would either become warriors or travel in their company to be ready for defence. Tombs with weapons and warrior iconography have led to the assumption that during the Final Bronze Age (FBA) and Early Iron Age (EIA), ca. 1200-750 BC, male “warrior elites” constituted a ruling class in most of Europe. However, the archaeological record does not support such a simplified, androcentric interpretation. Moreover, interpersonal violence that prevailed in this era between decentralized groups represents a different form of conflict other than real warfare, which only occurs between centralized polities aiming for conquest. The archaeological evidence encourages a reassessment of the social roles of warriors as well as of intergroup violence in prehistoric non-state societies.
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Firstly, an accurate lithological determination of stelae from Capilla (Spain) has been established with petrographic methods. According to the results, two slabs for replications of stelae were obtained from the identified mono-mineral quartz-sandstone (“quartzite”) outcrop. The experiment involved the trial of chisels made from all expedient materials that were available in the FBA-EIA by a professional stonemason. Considering that such extremely hard rocks require robust tools for carving, a long ignored iron chisel from the FBA site of Rocha do Vigio (Portugal) was studied with metallography and exposed heterogeneous, however surprisingly high-carbon steel. The analysed rocks are amongst the hardest that can be used for sculpting, and in the course of the experiment, bronze and lithic tools could be discarded. The only tool that showed an effect was the replication of the steel chisel from Rocha do Vigio with a hardened edge. The distinct work traces were compared to the original monuments. We hypothesize that the production of carbon steel as well as its hardening were possibly already known at the FBA-EIA transition in Iberia. Hence, only the access to iron technology allowed for the making of stelae from the lithotypes that were frequently used in the Zújar basin around the municipality of Capilla.
incorporating rocks weighing several tons – have been built all over Sardinia in the
Bronze Age. The construction of these monuments represented a serious challenge for
craftspeople and helpers, requiring them to cooperatively accomplish these impressive
collective actions. The nuraghi were then abandoned in the Final Bronze Age
when extra-insular connections intensified and monumental sanctuaries emerged.
These were designed to accommodate large groups of people and they featured hydraulic
structures, using water as the recurrent liturgical element. The sanctuaries’ open
spaces allowed for redistributive feasts as well as rituals that served to maintain and
strengthen social bonds.
It is possible that the nuraghi were connected to the process of clearing the island from
stones in order to cultivate the land. On the other hand, the sanctuaries might reflect
social changes that arose during the course of intercultural communications and immigration.
In both cases, the construction of monuments created symbolic places that
permanently connected communities.
Monumental architecture has often been considered by archaeologists to be proof of
social stratification. This contribution discusses to the contrary that the Sardinian
monuments were indicators of cooperation. For the coexistence of independent communities
on the island, finding ways of balancing interests and managing conflicts
was important and monument building might have been one strategy to benefit intercommunity
relations.
The social organization of this once prosperous and innovative Mediterranean community is still barely understood: aspects of social hierarchy cannot be easily detected, despite the search in vain for a “nuragic aristocracy” within the archaeological records. This is due to the widespread concept that societies that reach a high level of cultural complexity do so because they become hierarchical, with a small group or “elite” organizing this progression.
One of the central aims of this contribution is to analyze the inter-cultural communications and the social organization of Sardinia beyond evolutionist and colonial concepts. This approach taken towards the study of prehistoric societies employs key-concepts of anarchist theory: it will examine the practices of e.g. autonomy, networking, cooperation and decentralization.
Zunächst wird die Verwendung grundlegender Begriffe (z. B. Kultur, Kontaktformen, Orientalisierung, Ethnizität) im Rahmen des Themas geklärt und die anarchistische Theorie als geeignetes Analysewerkzeug zur Untersuchung dezentraler Gesellschaften ohne konsolidierte Hierarchien vorgeschlagen. Dabei sind vor allem Konzepte wie freiwillige Kooperation, Netzwerkorganisation, der gemeinschaftliche Konsum von Produktionsüberschüssen sowie eine auf lokaler Autonomie basierte Dezentralität der Siedlungsgemeinschaften von Bedeutung. Nach einer Kurzbeschreibung der chronologischen Situation im westlichen Mittelmeer und der Entwicklung immer intensiverer Fernkontakte zwischen bestimmten Regionen mit Bezug zu Sardinien werden im Anschluss die archäologischen Befunde der Insel mit Relevanz zur Sozialarchäologie vorgestellt. Dazu gehören explizit die großen Heiligtümer mit den wohlbekannten Bronzefiguren. Diese kulturellen und materiellen Ausdrucksformen entstanden kurz nach technologischen und demografischen Veränderungen, welche die neue Kontaktsituation mit sich brachte. Sie lösten die Nuraghen, Megalithgräber sowie den Ahnenkult als soziale Bezugspunkte ab. Schließlich wird auf die Auswirkungen fortgesetzter interkultureller Kommunikation auf die Sozialgefüge der sardischen Gesellschaft eingegangen.
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Settlement archaeology, monument building, funeral rites and religious ritual as well as local economic approaches in these four regions, which were connected by a network of anchorages, are also examined and compared. The communitarian organization as well as the allocation of power within prehistoric societies are analyzed through alternative theoretical methods considering heterarchy and complex anarchic societies. In this context, sometimes dramatic socio-political changes in the Early Iron Age, which further resulted in changes in local art and symbolism, can be explained through manipulative strategies, intensified communications or – to the contrary – dissociation.
This volume contains comprehensive, fully illustrated data on 245 Sardinian anthropomorphic bronze figurines as well as references to 216 zoomorphic bronzetti and 146 boat models. Furthermore, 118 western Iberian stelae have been analyzed in detail and are contrasted with the completely diverging motives of the Iberian Early Iron Age. Finally, the statue-menhirs of Corsica and the figurative art of Sicily complete the material basis of this study. This pioneering work provides chronological data, iconographical and archaeological analyses as well as distribution maps and therefore offers an invaluable database for Mediterranean archaeology.
available at Verlag Marie Leidorf, http://vml.de and http://vml.de/e/detail.php?ISBN=978-3-89646-797-3
Book Reviews
Firstly, an accurate lithological determination of stelae from Capilla (Spain) has been established with petrographic methods. According to the results, two slabs for replications of stelae were obtained from the identified mono-mineral quartz-sandstone (“quartzite”) outcrop. The experiment involved the trial of chisels made from all expedient materials that were available in the FBA-EIA by a professional stonemason. Considering that such extremely hard rocks require robust tools for carving, a long ignored iron chisel from the FBA site of Rocha do Vigio (Portugal) was studied with metallography and exposed heterogeneous, however surprisingly high-carbon steel. The analysed rocks are amongst the hardest that can be used for sculpting, and in the course of the experiment, bronze and lithic tools could be discarded. The only tool that showed an effect was the replication of the steel chisel from Rocha do Vigio with a hardened edge. The distinct work traces were compared to the original monuments. We hypothesize that the production of carbon steel as well as its hardening were possibly already known at the FBA-EIA transition in Iberia. Hence, only the access to iron technology allowed for the making of stelae from the lithotypes that were frequently used in the Zújar basin around the municipality of Capilla.
incorporating rocks weighing several tons – have been built all over Sardinia in the
Bronze Age. The construction of these monuments represented a serious challenge for
craftspeople and helpers, requiring them to cooperatively accomplish these impressive
collective actions. The nuraghi were then abandoned in the Final Bronze Age
when extra-insular connections intensified and monumental sanctuaries emerged.
These were designed to accommodate large groups of people and they featured hydraulic
structures, using water as the recurrent liturgical element. The sanctuaries’ open
spaces allowed for redistributive feasts as well as rituals that served to maintain and
strengthen social bonds.
It is possible that the nuraghi were connected to the process of clearing the island from
stones in order to cultivate the land. On the other hand, the sanctuaries might reflect
social changes that arose during the course of intercultural communications and immigration.
In both cases, the construction of monuments created symbolic places that
permanently connected communities.
Monumental architecture has often been considered by archaeologists to be proof of
social stratification. This contribution discusses to the contrary that the Sardinian
monuments were indicators of cooperation. For the coexistence of independent communities
on the island, finding ways of balancing interests and managing conflicts
was important and monument building might have been one strategy to benefit intercommunity
relations.
The social organization of this once prosperous and innovative Mediterranean community is still barely understood: aspects of social hierarchy cannot be easily detected, despite the search in vain for a “nuragic aristocracy” within the archaeological records. This is due to the widespread concept that societies that reach a high level of cultural complexity do so because they become hierarchical, with a small group or “elite” organizing this progression.
One of the central aims of this contribution is to analyze the inter-cultural communications and the social organization of Sardinia beyond evolutionist and colonial concepts. This approach taken towards the study of prehistoric societies employs key-concepts of anarchist theory: it will examine the practices of e.g. autonomy, networking, cooperation and decentralization.
Zunächst wird die Verwendung grundlegender Begriffe (z. B. Kultur, Kontaktformen, Orientalisierung, Ethnizität) im Rahmen des Themas geklärt und die anarchistische Theorie als geeignetes Analysewerkzeug zur Untersuchung dezentraler Gesellschaften ohne konsolidierte Hierarchien vorgeschlagen. Dabei sind vor allem Konzepte wie freiwillige Kooperation, Netzwerkorganisation, der gemeinschaftliche Konsum von Produktionsüberschüssen sowie eine auf lokaler Autonomie basierte Dezentralität der Siedlungsgemeinschaften von Bedeutung. Nach einer Kurzbeschreibung der chronologischen Situation im westlichen Mittelmeer und der Entwicklung immer intensiverer Fernkontakte zwischen bestimmten Regionen mit Bezug zu Sardinien werden im Anschluss die archäologischen Befunde der Insel mit Relevanz zur Sozialarchäologie vorgestellt. Dazu gehören explizit die großen Heiligtümer mit den wohlbekannten Bronzefiguren. Diese kulturellen und materiellen Ausdrucksformen entstanden kurz nach technologischen und demografischen Veränderungen, welche die neue Kontaktsituation mit sich brachte. Sie lösten die Nuraghen, Megalithgräber sowie den Ahnenkult als soziale Bezugspunkte ab. Schließlich wird auf die Auswirkungen fortgesetzter interkultureller Kommunikation auf die Sozialgefüge der sardischen Gesellschaft eingegangen.
Settlement archaeology, monument building, funeral rites and religious ritual as well as local economic approaches in these four regions, which were connected by a network of anchorages, are also examined and compared. The communitarian organization as well as the allocation of power within prehistoric societies are analyzed through alternative theoretical methods considering heterarchy and complex anarchic societies. In this context, sometimes dramatic socio-political changes in the Early Iron Age, which further resulted in changes in local art and symbolism, can be explained through manipulative strategies, intensified communications or – to the contrary – dissociation.
This volume contains comprehensive, fully illustrated data on 245 Sardinian anthropomorphic bronze figurines as well as references to 216 zoomorphic bronzetti and 146 boat models. Furthermore, 118 western Iberian stelae have been analyzed in detail and are contrasted with the completely diverging motives of the Iberian Early Iron Age. Finally, the statue-menhirs of Corsica and the figurative art of Sicily complete the material basis of this study. This pioneering work provides chronological data, iconographical and archaeological analyses as well as distribution maps and therefore offers an invaluable database for Mediterranean archaeology.
available at Verlag Marie Leidorf, http://vml.de and http://vml.de/e/detail.php?ISBN=978-3-89646-797-3