27 research outputs found

    'All that glisters...' Prehistoric gold (pickings) from the Netherlands

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    Gold is a rarity in archaeological research, and its prehistoric presence is often used to infer the existence of persons of extraordinary standing (Warmenbol 2004: 208 & 219). It therefore is a fitting topic to congratulate a colleague that we hold in extraordinary regard; our questions to Eugène on the Later Prehistoric archaeology and bronze artefacts of Belgium were never posed in vain and his constructive comments on our publications never missed their mark. In his honor, we present an overview of the prehistoric gold from the Late Neolithic up to the Early Iron Age from the Netherlands – another case in point of how we could build on foundations put in place by Eugène (esp. Warmenbol 1989: 509; Warmenbol 2004). An open access dataset comprising the full descriptions for the individual objects can be found here: https://doi.org/10.34894/8SQK5F. In this contribution we have discussed the few but notable gold finds datable from the Late Neolithic up to Early Iron Age from the Netherlands. Despite being low in numbers, a few trends come to the fore: both around 2300-2000 BCE and 1600-1400 BCE, gold ornaments are used in funerary context as markers of a special social standing, possibly related to interregional contacts and/or martial identities. The position of gold ornaments in both horizon 1 and 2 suggest that these are head-decorations, possible wrapped around locks or breads of hair, with the possible exception of the diadem (or neckring?) of Ede – Bennekom. In horizon 3, gold ornaments are no longer placed solely in graves, but – akin to their bronze counterparts – also deposited in wetland locations in the landscape. In this period, their association to weaponry (apart obviously of the gold inlay of the Oss sword; Van der Vaart-Verschoof 2017a: 122-124) appears to be lost, and small-diameter gold and gilded rings of unknown original usage (nose? ear? hair?) are added to cremated remains in urnfield period ceramic vessels. Their scarce occurrence in such contexts, suggests that gold had lost nothing of its exclusivity over the ages. We can only hope that Eugène’s work on prehistoric metalwork will similarly continue to glister upon his retirement

    Untersuchung von Milch

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