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Rethinking time, culture and socioeconomic organisation in Bronze Age Transylvania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2020

Colin P. Quinn Open the ORCID record for Colin P. Quinn [Opens in a new window] ,
Horia Ciugudean ,
Gabriel Bălan  and
Gregory Hodgins
Colin P. Quinn*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Hamilton College, USA
Horia Ciugudean
Affiliation:
Muzeul Național al Unirii, Alba Iulia, Romania
Gabriel Bălan
Affiliation:
Muzeul Național al Unirii, Alba Iulia, Romania
Gregory Hodgins
Affiliation:
AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ cpquinn@hamilton.edu
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Abstract

South-west Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Age Europe, helping to facilitate the development of increasingly hierarchical societies. The absence of a radiocarbon-based chronology for Transylvania, however, has impeded understanding of the region's role within broader socioeconomic networks. Here, the presentation of the first radiocarbon chronology for the Wietenberg Culture in south-west Transylvania allows the authors to highlight the importance of interregional exchange and reliable access to metal for Bronze Age European societies, and emphasise that resource-procurement zones follow unique trajectories of socioeconomic organisation.

Keywords

RomaniaTransylvaniaWietenberg CultureBronze AgeBayesian analysisexchange
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 94 , Issue 373 , February 2020 , pp. 44 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

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