The late bronze age in Scotland

Abstract

This work was of necessity been based to a great extent on the typology of bronze and gold objects; the continuing lack of knowledge of burials, settlements and common pottery in the first millenium B.C. remains an unsolved problem. However, the distinction of a type of pottery, termed Covesea Ware, has provided the first information that may enable us to discuss a truly Late Bronze Age culture, rather than mere industries, and the appearance of gold armlets in varying circumstances, fully documented in Appendix ii, provides a hint of a solution to the funerary problem. The list of settlement sites, Traprain and Jarlshof, remains small, although several hut- circles have yielded evidence of Late Bronze Age use, and this also opens up a new line of pursuit.The Late Bronze Age in Scotland has been studied on previous occasions, notably by Childe in 1935 and 1946, but he placed the emphasis on the more unusual aspects of the period, such as the settlement at Jarlshof. Collections of material were carried out by Callander in 1923 and by Henderson in 1938. In 1931 Miss Benton provided the first hint that the Scottish Late Bronze Age was not merely a crude reflection of English and Irish technology and typology, but unfortunately the effect of her thesis was the further confusion of the issue, because of the lack of discrimination in pottery definitions. Nevertheless, the suggestions advanced in 1931 have been substantiated, in a somewhat different form, in the present work.The method of study employed here included a careful re- examination of most of the bronze and gold objects, and this has not been without its rewards of new information. In practically all cases, and wherever possible, former published work and reports were followed up and checked, and the results, especially with regard to shields, sometimes necessitated an entirely new approach.The typological studies are based upon the English and Irish material, and published work and personal inspection of objects from these areas form the main field of comparative typology; however, as will be seen, the chronological systems employed in England and Ireland have not been used or adapted, because of the unique position of Scotland in the Late Bronze Age, the recipient of influences from all quarters.The writer has tried to steer clear of most temptations to interpret typology into sociology, with the exception of a short digression into the field of ethnology. The recent attempts to postulate social organizations from the composition of bronze hoards have not, in my opinion, been convincing, and these are not considered here.