Bronzization: The Bronze Age as Pre-Modern Globalization

Abstract

ZusammenfassungIst es möglich, die Bronzezeit im Sinne der soziologisch definierten Begrifflichkeit “Globalisierung” zu fassen? Der Beitrag folgt dieser Fragestellung auf analytischem Wege, aber auch in der Diskussion ihrer Merkmale auf Basis moderner und zeitgenössischer Geschichtsschreibung. Sichtbar wird, dass die Bronzezeit als einzigartiges Beispiel der Verschränkung eines kontinentübergreifenden afrikanisch-eurasischen Großraumes anzusehen ist, der sich um etwa 2000 v. Chr. herausbildete und um ca. 1200 v. Chr. wieder verschwand. Um die Bronzezeit als ein entsprechend globalisiertes Phänomen betrachten zu können, wurde der Begriff “bronzization” eingeführt, der die Bronze als entscheidende Ressource eines historischen Wandels über den Zeitraum von 800 Jahren fasst und in den Mittelpunkt der Forschung stellt.

The Stone Age Plague: 1000 years of Persistence in Eurasia

“…cf. Stockhammer et al, 2015) was a time of major transformative cultural and social changes that led to cross-European networks of contact and exchange (Vandkilde, 2016). Intriguingly, recent studies on ancient human genomes suggested a major expansion of people from the Eurasian Steppe westwards into central Europe as well as eastwards into Central Asia and Southern Siberia starting around 4,800 BP (Allentoft et al, 2015;Haak et al, 2015).…”

The Provenance, Use, and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The State of Debate

“…One focus for current scholarly debate lies in the nature of the interrelationships among these communities. There is currently a spectrum of interpretation, ranging from a smaller-scale perspective where economies and identities are perceived as community based and trade and interaction are regional and not yet commodity based (Harding 2013;Kienlin 2015Kienlin , 2017, to a more global perspective where the Bronze Age is considered an early form of globalization/world system and trade is interregional and commodity based (Kristiansen 2017; Kristiansen and Larsson 2005;Sherratt 2006;Vandkilde 2016). At the core of this long-standing debate is the relationship between European Bronze Age metals and societies, which consequently have been the subject of much scholarship, especially as metals can be used as a proxy for populations, trade systems, conflict, religious practices, and institutional dynamics.…”

“…At the broadest spatial and temporal scale of this metal-oriented perspective on the past, Vandkilde (2016) recently argued for the Bronze Age as bronzizationa globalization-like multiscalar process across wide tracts of Afro-Eurasia led by a shared desire for bronze and maintained by innumerable interconnecting activities within and between shifting spheres of interaction. It commenced around 2000 BC and unfolded decisively around c. 1600/1500 BC with tighter and longer interconnections; a long phase of shrinkage and growing fragmentation occurred around 1200 BC.…”

Bronze Age Beginnings – a Scalar View from the Global Outskirts

“…Recently, the Bronze Age has been compared to the globalised state of the contemporary world (Vandkilde 2016;2017a;2017b). In this perspective, the Bronze Age is a period of pre-modern globalisation driven specifically by the use of bronze (or similar metals with similar properties).…”

“…The study has four linked parts. First, the state of the art is concisely reviewed in terms of globalisation theory and drawing on recent publications (Vandkilde 2016;2017a;2017b). Second, an excursus is made to contemporary Island Papua New Guinea (PNG), which relies on data I collected during fieldwork in 2007.…”