Überlegungen zur intentionellen Beschädigung und Fragmentierung von Hortbronzen

Abstract

Considering intentional damage and fragmentation in Bronze Age metal - work depositions. The present contribution argues for the need to clearly distinguish between the damaging or breaking-up of metalwork objects and their subsequent deposition when trying to establish the respective motives behind those actions. Two broad categories of fragmentation pat - terns among metalwork assemblages from Bronze Age hoard contexts can be established, one stemming from the ritual decommissioning of items for eminently religious purposes, the other from the breaking-up of metal objects for recycling or for use within the context of a weight-based hack- bronze currency. This dichotomy does not always map neatly onto the dis tinction between the religious and the mundane where the motives behind the subsequent deposition of fragmented metalwork are concerned.