In this article, the topic of Atlantic Bronze Age will be addressed from different perspectives, with the aim of delving into its importance and relevance in today's society. Atlantic Bronze Age has been the subject of interest and debate in various areas of knowledge, and its influence is felt in different aspects of daily life. Throughout the article, various research and testimonies will be examined that will shed light on Atlantic Bronze Age, providing the reader with a broader and more detailed understanding of this topic. In addition, different approaches and opinions about Atlantic Bronze Age will be analyzed, in order to enrich the panorama and present a global vision of its scope and impact.
The Atlantic Bronze Age refers to a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period in prehistoric Europe, spanning approximately 1300–700 BC. This complex includes various cultures in Britain, France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.
The Atlantic Bronze Age is characterized by economic and cultural exchange, resulting in a high degree of cultural similarity between coastal communities from central Portugal to Galicia, Armorica, Cornwall and Scotland. This is evidenced by the frequent use of stone as chevaux-de-frise, the construction of cliff castles, and domestic architecture, sometimes characterized by roundhouses. Trade contacts extended from Sweden and Denmark to the Mediterranean. The Bronze Age was characterized by distinct regional centers of metal production, linked by regular maritime trade. The main centers were in southern England and Ireland, northwestern France, and western Iberia. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the Early Bronze Age began on the northern Iberian plateau in 2100 cal. BC, while the Late Bronze Age began in 1350 cal. BC. Items associated with this culture are often found in hoards or deposited in ritual areas, typically in watery contexts such as rivers, lakes, and bogs. The cultural complex includes various items, such as socketed and double-ring bronze axes, sometimes buried in large hoards in Brittany and Galicia. Military equipment such as lunate spearheads, V-notched shields, and a variety of bronze swords, including carp-tongue swords, are usually found buried in lakes, rivers, or rocky outcrops. Elite feasting equipment such as spits, kettles, and meat hooks have also been found from central Portugal to Scotland.
In 2008, John T. Koch attributed the origins of the Celts to this period. This theory is supported by Barry Cunliffe, who argues that Celtic developed as an Atlantic lingua franca before spreading to mainland Europe. The authors argue that communities in the Late Bronze Age adopted elite status markers, such as grip-tongue swords and bronze sheet metalwork, from the Urnfield period (Bronze D and Hallstatt A). They also acquired new skills for their production and ritual knowledge about their proper treatment after deposition. These changes may indicate processes related to language change. In 2013, Koch suggested that the emergence of Celtic languages with a Proto-Celtic homeland in west-central Europe could be explained by elite contact from east to west. However, this view contrasts with the more widely accepted view that Celtic origins are linked to the central European Hallstatt C culture.
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A Bronze Age gold hoard: Tesouro de Caldas, Galicia, Spain
^ abcCunliffe, Barry (1999). "Atlantic Sea-ways"(PDF). Revista de Guimarães. Especial (I): 93–105. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
^Ling, Johan; Stos-Gale, Zofia; Grandin, Lena; Billström, Kjell; Hjärthner-Holdar, Eva; Persson, Per-Olof (2014). "Moving metals II: provenancing Scandinavian Bronze Age artefacts by lead isotope and elemental analyses". Journal of Archaeological Science. 41: 106–132. Bibcode:2014JArSc..41..106L. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.07.018.
^Comendador Rey, Beatriz. "SPACE AND MEMORY AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER ULLA (GALICIA, SPAIN)"(PDF). Conceptualising Space and Place: On the role of agency, memory and identity in the construction of space from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Iron Age in Europe. Archaeopress. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
^ abcCunliffe, Barry (2008). Europe between the oceans : themes and variations, 9000 BC-AD 1000 (First printed in paperback 2011. ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 254–258. ISBN978-0-300-17086-3.
^Cunliffe, Barry (2008). A Race Apart: Insularity and Connectivity in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 75, 2009, pp. 55–64. The Prehistoric Society. p. 61.