Cauldrons

This drafts gives an overview over major steps in the shift of use of society-building pagan concepts as displayed in Insular Celtic literature to their oppressive abuse by Norman-Christian conquerors. The re-interpretation of pagan  concepts as expressed in literary motifs formed part of the ideological discourse to ensure the establishment of a much more hierarchical feudal society..

Feasting equipment, copper‐alloy cauldrons and flesh‐hooks, are a distinctive feature of the later Atlantic Bronze Age suggesting elements of a shared ideology whose ultimate origin may lie in the eastern Mediterranean. The easterly distribution of the earliest British cauldrons previously identified is further confirmed by the recent discovery of a Type Colchester example at Salle, Norfolk, which brings to three the number of cauldrons of this type found in the region. Similarities between them suggest their origin lies in a single workshop, if not individual craftsman. The appearance of the cauldrons found at Feltwell, Norfolk, and Salle is so close as to suggest a new ‘Feltwell’ Variant. Analysis of the contents of the Feltwell cauldron hint at the function of these intriguing objects as high status cooking vessels, most likely reserved for the chiefly class and deployed in the hosting of feasts which, along with flesh‐hooks, served to build and cement political alliances.

KEYWORDS
CAULDRON, FLESH‐HOOK, FEASTING, LATER BRONZE AGE, IDEOLOGY, BRONZE AGE CHRONOLOGY, METAL DETECTING

Absrtract: The analysis of the cultural and settlement situation in the Upper San River basin in the Late Roman Period and the early phase of the Migration Period (timespan between phases C2 and D) is difficult due to the small database. In addition to materials from the partially researched settlement in Lesko and recently excavated (during the investment works on the bypass of Sanok) settlement in Sanok 59-60, the materials from these phases are primarily stray finds, such as metal fragments of clothing, such as buckles or coins, discovered outside the archaeological context. It is important to underline that most of the wheel-made pottery finds have a wide chronological frame and it is a rare possibility to narrow pottery dating. Despite the limited amount of data, they provide the basis for the new analysis of the archaeological material and settlement situation in this area dated roughly to the Late Roman Period and Early Migration Period. In this context, wide-scale research, which for the first time allowed observation of the extent and organization of settlements, proved to be particularly important.

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are a rather rare find in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM). In particular, at the moment in the main archaeological exhibition two bronze cauldrons are displayed, which were discovered near the village of Nikolskoe in 1988 in burial mounds no. 14 and no. 15. In addition, already in 2020, two bronze cauldrons without any accompanying documents were found in the collection of NMHM; however, they were visually identified as coming from various excavations in the Low Dniester region: from the burial mound no. 45 near Dubossary and burial mound no. 1 near the Răscăieţii Noi village. Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina Podolia (Iacobeni, Avrămeni, Ivane-Puste, Shvaikivtsy), the Lower Dniester (Răscăieţii Noi, Nikolskoe, Dubossary, Coiburciu), and the Lower Danube (Ograda, Castelu, Scorţaru Vechi, Mresnota Mogyla, Ostrovnoe). Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same “stray” finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely, not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. There is a significant chronological difference between the northern (forest-steppe, Bukovina-Podolia) group of cauldrons and the southern (steppe, Lower Danube-Lower Dniester). At the same time, a chronological priority is characteristic of the first, where the cauldrons are known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) penetrate the steppe region 150-200 years later, as well as the “military” burials that appear in the western steppe regions no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most of the burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, at the early 4th century BC their quantity is reduced and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC they will completely disappear from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

The archaeological landscape of the Lower Danube was changing with the importance of the Danube itself, which either became, or a cultural watershed, or an artery, connecting the ancient communities. In the Early Iron Age, it seems that the Danube did not become an invincible barrier for the spread of offensive weapons of Scythian origin. Moreover, Dobruja itself looks like a territory mastered by the Scythians, starting from the Archaic period. The Lower Danube group forms a separate “steppe” cultural assemblage together with the Lower Dniester, South Carpathian and South Danube groups, for which the spear became the main type of weapon. However, these preferences were reflected in the morphology of the Scythian akinakes. So, for this steppe or Danube enclave, swords are more characteristic than daggers. Daggers are connected mainly with the forest-steppe part of the Carpathian-Dniester region and Transylvania. The warrior graves of the Lower Danube region mainly belong to the Classical Scythian period, while the only exception is related to the right bank of the Lower Danube. However, there are no burials with akinakai and even stray finds in Classical time outside the steppe. The main funeral practice is the burial mound and inhumation (one exception of cremation was recorded to the west, in northeastern Bulgaria, near Branichevo). In Late Classical time (350—300 BC) the Scythian akinakes also evolves in the steppe: an original series of single-edged akinakai of the Chaush type appear; besides that, Thracian combat knives are borrowed. Then the Scythian akinakes dissolves with the disappearance of the Classical Scythian culture at the turn of 4th—3rd centuries BC. Something similar happens a century earlier in the forest-steppe between the Dniester and Siret rivers. The complete disappearance of akinakes dates back there in the late 5th century BC. Thus, in the Scythian time, the Lower Danube becomes kind of frontier, or the territory, where cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power.

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are a rather rare find in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina Podolia (Iacobeni, Avrămeni, Ivane-Puste, Shvaikivtsy), the Lower Dniester (Răscăieții Noi, Nikolskoe, Dubăsari, Cioburciu), and the Lower Danube (Ograda, Castelu, Scorțaru Vechi, Mresnota Mogyla, Ostrivne). Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same “stray” finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely, not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. There is a significant chronological difference between the northern (forest-steppe, Bukovina-Podolia) group of cauldrons and the southern (steppe, Lower Danube-Lower Dniester). At the same time, a chronological priority is characteristic of the first, where the cauldrons are known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) penetrate the steppe region 150-200 years later, as well as the “military” burials that appear in the western steppe regions no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most of the burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, at the early 4th century BC their quantity is reduced and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC, they will completely disappear from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

A significant part of bronze cauldrons found in Asian Sarmatia is cast and was made by local craftsmen, whereas those from the nomadic burials, dating from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD, with hammered bodies and cast handles, belonging to western imports, are discussed in this paper. In addition to a rare example made in the 4th – 3rd centuries BC in Macedonia or Epirus, found in the Middle Don basin in the complex of the late 2nd – 1st century BC in the late 2nd – 1st century BC nomads received cauldrons, probably made in the workshops of Asia Minor or the Bosporan kingdom, including those with Greek ownership inscriptions. The hypothesis put forward by B.A. Raev that bronzeware was not manufactured in the Black Sea workshops, and imported vessels were brought either from Italy, or from Thrace, or were made in workshops of the North Caucasus or Transcaucasia, does not stand up to criticism. Significantly more complex picture in comparison with those drawn in previous publications emerges with the distribution of bronze hammered cauldrons in the 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. Most widespread were the cauldrons of the so-called Debelt and Rovnoe groups, which according to B.A. Raev and S.V. Demidenko were manufactured in Italian, and then in Provincial-Roman workshops or in North Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Our analysis shows with a high degree of probability their possible manufacturing in the Bosporan workshops. Such a preponderance of presumably Bosporan products does not exclude that certain pieces could find their way from the Roman provinces, as evidenced by the find in the Lower Volga area of a vessel with a Greek inscription pointing to Thrace as the place of its manufacture.

The article discusses the implication of dents on late medieval and early modern bronze cooking pots. Already in the 19th century a bronze cauldron was discovered near the medieval churrch of Eelde. The vessel was heavily damaged, most interesting being the dent on the belly. This kind of damage is found more often on bronze cauldrons, but has so far drawn little or no attention. The force needed to induce such a dent is quite considerable and it is believed to exceed the force involved in an accidental drop of the vessel. To prove this hypothesis a destructive archaeological experiment was carried out. Two bronze cauldrons with unknown provenance were maltreated by attaching them to a rigid swing and letting them fall against different substrates. It was chosen to record the blow against wood, medieval brick, stone, the edge of an axe and finally the back of an axe. The blow on wood, brick and stone did not result in real dents as we encounter them on medieval and early modern cauldrons. The blows against the axe (both the edge and the back) did produce dents comparable to those on archaeological finds. The conclusion of the experiment is that most damages on bronze cauldrons are not caused by an accidental fall, but were inflicted by a deliberate blow with an axe.

Im vorliegenden Aufsatz werden die Phänomene des kulturellen Wandels einer Gesellschaft anhand typologischer Untersuchungen und einer Auswertung der geographischen Verteilung von Metallgefäßen in der Gallia Belgica analysiert.
Die Verbreitung des italischen Bronzegeschirrs weist auf besondere Handels- und Politikbeziehungen zwischen Rom und einigen gallischen Stämmen hin. Außerdem geben An- oder Abwesenheiten mancher Gefäßtypen (z. B. Kessel oder Siebe) in bestimmten Kontexten wichtige Hinweise zu Funktion und Status dieser Gefäße. Mit direktem Bezug zum Thema Migration und kultureller Austausch werden mögliche Hinweise auf die Migration der Belger nach Nordgallien aufgezeigt.

(fr) La vaisselle métallique de La Tène finale comme témoin des transformations culturelles en Gaule septentrionale.

Dans le présent document, les phénomènes de changement culturel dans une société sont analysés au moyen d'études typologiques et d'une évaluation de la répartition géographique des récipients métalliques en Gallia Belgica.
En effet, la diffusion de la vaisselle italique en bronze reflète les relations politiques et commerciales particulières unissant certains peuples de Gaule à la péninsule italienne. Par ailleurs, la présence ou l’absence de certains récipients, comme les chaudrons ou les passoires, au sein de contextes particuliers donnent des informations précieuses quant à leur fonction et leur statut. En référence directe au thème de la migration et des échanges culturels, il sera discuté ici plus particulièrement des possibles indices sur la migration des Belges vers la Gaule du Nord.


(en) Metal vessels of the younger Latène period as evidence of cultural change in northern Gaul
This essay analyses the phenomena of cultural change in a society on the basis of typological and geographical investigations of metal tableware in the province Gallia Belgica. The distribution of Italian bronze dishes points to special trade connections and political relations between Rome and some Gallic tribes. In addition, the presence or absence of certain types of vessels, such as cauldrons or strainers in specific contexts, provide important information on the function and status of these vessels. With direct relation to the topics migration and cultural exchange, attention is drawn to possible indications for migration of the Belgians to Northern Gaul.

This article is the second part of a contribution, discussing the implication of dents on late medieval and early modern bronze cooking pots. Many pots are damaged: sometimes one of the legs is (partly) missing, sometimes there is a hole in the bottom or the wall of the pot is torn. In some cases it can be demonstrated that the pots have been damaged on purpose. A bronze pot had a considerable value, even if it had a hole or a missing leg. If it was deposited somewhere, that must have had a special reason. This argument in combination with the deliberate damaging leads to the conclusion that the pots  are to be considered as intentional depositions. Thus, the bronze pots can be seen as one of the categories in the longterm range of prehistoric offerings in wet context. In this respect their deposition  simply is a continuation of a pre-christian habit. It is argued that the intentional mutalition was done on the occasion of a ritual at the start of large project (building of castle, construction of a dike, digging of a moat, reclamation of a peat  area etc.).

In 1937, a bronze cauldron was discovered at the occasion of the translocation of a huge boulder near the village of Tijnje. This boulder had been left behind after the retreat of the Pleistocene icecap. Starting in the Bronze Age, the landscape gradually became overgrown by peat, initially reed sedge peat and carr peat and later sphagnum peat. The boulder was probably never completely covered by peat. In the 11th and 12th centuries AD, land reclamation started in the area. Soon agriculture caused oxidation of the sphagnum peat, resulting in severe subsidence. Villages were abandoned. It was not until the 17th century that commercial companies started the exploitation of these now uninhabited peatlands by cutting turfs for fuel. It is argued that the cauldron was deposited at the foot of the boulder as a ritual offering on
the occasion of the start of the exploitation of the area in the 17th century.

The article describes two pictures taken in 1964 at the occasion of the celebration of the farewell of an employee of the Drents Museum. As usual at the time everyone smoked, therefor an ashtray was placed on the table. However, it appears that an archaeological find from the collection was used as ashtray. From the picture it is quite clear that a bronze cauldron from the late-medieval period was picked to serve the goal. It even can be specified, which cauldron from the collection was misused:  the cauldron that was found in 1878 during peatcutting activities (inventorynumber H19878-3). Such cauldrons were deliberately deposited in these days in some sort of a ritual.

Over a century and a half, Scythian bronze cauldrons have been a subject of interest from the
technological, spatial and typological perspective. The author of the article addresses the relations between
the society and an artifact, namely a Scythian bronze cauldron, regarding it as an active participant of the
communication process between society and its material culture.
This cross-disciplinary developing approach – cultural biography of an artifact – is widely used in
sociology, anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology (A. MacKenzie, R. Appadurai, J. Hoskins, L. Meskell,
D. Fontijn).
A Scythian cauldron as an artifact is supposed to have a life cycle; its life and deposition are presupposed
by social and cultural conditions (necessity in an object, possessing raw materials and skill to work with it;
common and ritual usage and repair; smelting and deposition).
Cultural biography of the concept of the artifact deals with the whole class of objects and reveals its
general life cycle aspects. The origin of Scythian bronze cauldrons in the Black Sea steppes is likely
connected with technological or morphological borrowings. Thus, bronze melting production was widely
presented by Chinese ritual ding vessels and bronze cauldrons of the Western Mediterranean. The
morphological analogues encompass Late Bronze Age riveted cauldrons (Dykyi Sad, Lapas, Yahorlyk),
Greek craters of Geometric period, a cauldron from Gordion tomb in Turkey, ding vessels. All the prototypes
had some common and diverse features (material, minor details in form, decoration, and territory), while
the functionality – boiling meat or ritual feasting – remained the same. The tradition of production and
usage of Scythian bronze cauldrons as a concept ended due to social and cultural circumstances.
Thus, the cultural biography of an artifact and its concept suggests new perspectives of revealing the
aspects of their origin, usage, and deposition that can hardly be traced only by archaeology.

I would like to ask you
• whether you have in your collection,
• or are you aware of the existence in public collections
of a special type of Roman Period copper cauldrons.

Material: the objects dated to the 4th century A.D. and later are made of copper alloy, but earlier vessels sometimes were made of bronze.

Structure:
These types of cauldron are made of three separate sheets. The upper vertical part of the body consists of two sheets, that were riveted together, and a third sheet is the bottom. This latter one is connected to the upper part with a so-called crenellated or toothed seam. Several pieces were found in Roman Pannonia but quite rare outside.