Making a Simple Tool

Bronze Casting for Personal Use in the Latter Part of the Scandinavian Bronze Age

Abstract

The prevailing perception of the Bronze Age bronze artisans is that the craftsmen must have been very specialized to be able to make the sometimes quite amazing objects produced during the Bronze Age in Scandinavia. After careful artefact studies, however, especially on ferrule axes from periods three to six, I feel that some artefact types were not manufactured by craftsmen who were experts or specialists in casting bronze, but more likely amateurs. There are clear signs that many ferrule axes were manufactured by people who certainly could mould bronze but were not experts in the field. Some of the Bronze Age bronze objects should be classified as everyday objects, such as certain axes, needles, etc. My theory is that these artefacts were not necessarily produced by experts but in some cases by farmers or amateurs in villages and on farms all around Scandinavia. Through experimental archaeology, artefact studies and habitat analysis, I shall test whether the theory holds water.