Peter S. Wells

The Development of Social Stratification in Bronze Age Europe [and Comments and Reply]

The emergence of a hereditary elite class in Bronze Age Europe is now widely interpreted in terms of the redistributive activities of a managerial ruling class. This fuctionalist account of elite origins goes against a uniformitarian understanding of what ruling classes do in complex societies. It also is poorly suited to the concrete evidence for Bronze Age cultures in Europe. The rise of hereditary, superordinate social strata in prehistoric Europe is better understood as a consequence of the development of capital-intensive subsistence techniques. Plow agriculture, Mediterranean polyculture, irrigation, and offshore fishing limited the possibility of group fission and thereby gave leaders the opportunity to exploit basic producers over the long term. The observations that capital-intensification preceded elite emergence and that areas with greater intensification exhibited greater social inequalities confirm this nonfuctionalist account of the development of stratification in later prehistoric Europe.

The Iron Age

European archaeologists formulated the idea of an Iron Age early in the nineteenth century, as they began organizing the growing collections of antiquities in museums then being established in different parts of the continent (Kuhn 1976). Changes in agricultural technology and the large-scale earth-moving connected with the construction of railroads resulted in the discovery of great quantities of archaeological materials. At the same time, the growing awareness of and interest in Europe’s prehistoric past stimulated the establishment of many new museums and local antiquarian societies and led to ever more archaeological excavations. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, scholars concerned with archaeology began convening at international conferences to share discoveries and ideas about the growing field of study. The formulation of a detailed framework for the European Iron Age dates from these conferences of the 1870s and 1880s.

Identity and Material Culture in the Later Prehistory of Central Europe

Examination of the archaeological evidence for the expression of identity in later European prehistory provides a new and promising approach to understanding change in this period. New views of the role of material culture in the communication of meanings, of the nature of identity, and of agency in the past provide a useful framework for approaching the evidence. Analysis of patterns of sameness and difference in style and decoration of manufactured objects indicates how people used their material culture to structure and to communicate their identities—on the level of the individual, of groups such as families and residential communities, and of larger entities commonly referred to as ethnic groups. This approach offers insights that complement social and economic models of change in later prehistory.

Iron Age temperate Europe: Some current research issues

The “Iron Age” designates the 800 years preceding the Roman conquest of Europe. This period represents the latest social and cultural development of indigenous European societies before the annexation of much of temperate Europe into the Roman Empire and the final phase of cultural change before the beginning of local traditions of written history north of the Alps. Our understanding of the Iron Age has changed substantially over the past 30 years, as a result both of recent discoveries and of new perspectives. Much recent research has focused on specific themes such as changing social structure and patterns of ritual behavior. I attempt here to provide an overview of current understanding and debate on some of these topics in Iron Age archaeology. The subject and its literature are vast, and my treatment is selective. The references will guide the interested reader to the wider literature.

Tradition, Identity, and Change beyond the Roman Frontier

The subject of this chapter is the use of objects transmitted through intercultural interaction. The cases examined involve a long-lived, relatively stable frontier between distinct cultural groups. Similar instances can be identified in many examples through time and space. The chapter treats human beings as self-conscious, decision-making entities, able to make informed choices about their courses of action.

Industry and Society in Late Prehistoric Europe

My remarks will focus on one aspect of the theme of this volume, and that is production, specifically industrial, as opposed to subsistence production. The role of trade in the development of centers and the emergence of towns, cities, and civilization has been much discussed among American and British anthropological archaeologists, with reference to developments in both the Old and New Worlds. Production of goods for such trade was of course necessary to provide something to trade, yet the manufacturing side of the equation has received relatively little attention.

Pottery and the visual world at early iron age Hascherkeller, Germany

Abstract On most late prehistoric and early historic settlement sites all over the world, pottery is the most abundant material recovered by archaeologists. Analysis of pottery provides information about the chronological position and cultural affiliation of a site, as well as about techniques of manufacture, organization of production, trade relations, and patterns in the social structure of the community. Here, a new approach is presented that focuses on pottery as a principal factor in the visual world of the people who made and used it. Pottery from the Early Iron Age settlement of Hascherkeller in southern Germany is examined in the context of the physical and social world of which the community was a part. It is argued that the shapes, textures, and decoration of the pottery refer to other elements of the physical world. This approach offers a new way to understand how prehistoric people responded to economic and political changes through the purposeful fashioning of their material culture.

The early iron age settlement of hascherkeller in bavaria: Preliminary report on the 1979 excavations

AbstractResults of two seasons of excavation at Hascherkeller, aided by a magnetometer survey of the site, provide a detailed view of the structure of the settlement. It consists of three contiguous enclosures bounded by double ditches, a pattern unique among excavated settlements of this period in central Europe. The evidence recovered in the first two seasons of fieldwork yields much information about a variety of economic activities at the site, including subsistence, manufacturing, and trade. Especially significant is the recovery of a mold for the casting of bronze rings. This discovery is important for our understanding of the organization of metallurgy during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages; the find demonstrates that this relatively small community at Hascherkeller was manufacturing its own luxury goods of bronze, the constituents of which had to be imported from other parts of Europe.

Changing models of settlement, economy, and ritual activity: Recent research in late prehistoric central Europe

Recent research in central Europe is changing our understanding of the role of centers in economic and social systems of late prehistoric times. Increased attention to smaller, more typical settlements shows that they engaged in economic activities similar to those at the large, fortified complexes. Abundant new evidence pertaining to ritual activity indicates that ritual was often integrated into daily life at settlements. The evidence from the exceptionally rich data on late prehistoric central Europe can be of substantial value for developing models applicable to contexts in other parts of the world.

Excavations at Hascherkeller in Bavaria: Field Research into the Economy of a Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Village

Abstract The third season of excavation at Hascherkeller completed the investigation of a large area of the central portion of the settlement. In addition to filling out a substantial part of the settlement plan, the 1980 excavations produced important new stratigraphic evidence bearing upon structural changes in the settlement over time. The 1980 season also allowed the completion of data collection for several types of technical analysis, the results of which contribute greatly to our understanding of the settlement and its economy. A series of radiocarbon dates suggests the absolute chronology of the site. Analysis of the plant remains and animal bones provides a picture of the subsistence economy of the community, while a technical study of the pottery gives insight into a principal manufacture at the site. The results of these studies, together with the structural features investigated over a major portion of the site and the rich artifactual material bearing on manufacturing and trade, provide a wea...