Selective fragmentation. Exploring the treatment of metalwork across time and space in Bronze Age Britain

During the Bronze Age (BA), thousands of metal tools, weapons and ornaments were buried across Europe in graves, settlements, single finds and hoards in the natural landscape. Many show evidence of deliberate treatment and structured and selective deposition. The concept of selective deposition (i.e. the decision to deposit objects in a certain way) is well-established in BA metalwork studies. A key principle is that material was treated in particular ways according to wider beliefs and practices about how this should be done. This paper will focus on ‘selective fragmentation’, which concerns the decision to actively break (or not break) an object prior to deposition. This may include other forms of manipulation, such as bending, burning, crushing or twisting. An important first step is establishing that objects were intentionally damaged; following this, we can explore how and why things were broken and how is this related to their eventual deposition. Using examples of metalwork deposits from BA Britain, it is possible to observe similarities and differences in selective approaches to fragmentation that suggest how concepts transformed across time and space. This can also be used to explore regionalised ideologies as well as wider connections through similar practices.