Why do people destroy objects and materials that are important to
them? This book aims to make sense of this fascinating, yet
puzzling social practice by focusing on a period in history in
which such destructive behaviour reached unseen heights and
complexity: the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Europe (c.
2300-500 BC). This period is often seen as the time in which a
'familiar' Europe took shape due to the rise of a metal-based
economy. But it was also during the Bronze Age that massive amounts
of scarce and recyclable metal were deliberately buried in the
landscape and never taken out again. This systematic deposition of
metalwork sits uneasily with our prevailing perception of the
Bronze Age as the first 'rational-economic' period in history - and
therewith - of ourselves. Taking the patterned archaeological
evidence of these seemingly un-economic metalwork depositions at
face value, it is shown that the 'un-economic' giving-up of metal
valuables was an integral part of what a Bronze Age 'economy' was
about. Based on case studies from Bronze Age Europe, this book
attempts to reconcile the seemingly conflicting political and
cultural approaches that are currently used to understand this
pivotal period in Europe's deep history. It seems that to achieve
something in society, something else must be given up. Using
theories from economic anthropology, this book argues that -
paradoxically - giving up that which was valuable created value. It
will be invaluable to scholars and archaeologists interested in the
Bronze Age, ancient economies, and a new angle on metalwork
depositions.
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