Ceremonial or deadly serious ? New insight into the function of Irish Early Bronze Age halberds

Abstract

• The articles in this volume cover aspects relating to archaeometallurgy, functional analyses, experimental work and archaeology and focus on multidisciplinary approaches for studying archaeological artefacts. Contents: 1) Introduction (Marianne Modlinger, Marion Uckelmann and Steven Matthews); 2) Spearheads and swords – The making of bronze objects (Markus Binggeli); 3) Use-wear on Bronze Age halberds: The case of Iberia (Dirk Brandherm); 4) Ceremonial or deadly serious? New insight into the function of Irish Early Bronze Age halberds (Ronan O’Flaherty, Michael D. Gilchrist and Trevor Cowie); 5) Deliberate destruction of halberds (Christian Horn); 6) Use-wear analysis and use-patterns of Bronze Age swords (Barry Molloy); 7) Chelsea and Ballintober swords: Typology, chronology and use (Steven Matthews); 8) Irish swords: Use and abuse (Ian Colquhoun); 9) Integrating form, function and technology in ancient swords. The concept of quality (Marc Gener); 10) Slash and stab: Some remarks on the manufacture, function and deposition of carp’s-tongue swords (summary) (Dirk Brandherm and Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo); 11) The discovery of a new Tachlovice sword at Pont-sur-Seine, Aube, France (Sylvie Boulud-Gazo); 12) Ritual object or powerful weapon – The usage of Central Europe Bronze Age swords (Marianne Modlinger); 13) Neutron resonance capture analysis and the Bronze Age (Hans Postma, Peter Schillebeeckx and Marianne Modlinger); 14) The Sintashta bow of the Bronze Age of the South Trans-Urals, Russia (Andrey Bersenev, Andrey Epimakhov and Dmitry Zdanovich); 15) The function of Bronze Age shields (Marion Uckelmann); 16) Metallurgical and archaeological investigations on the Macedonian shields of Staro Bonče (3rd century BC) (Paolo Piccardo and Dusko Temelkoski). A further 12 abstracts are also included in the book.