Birds in the Bronze Age. A North European Perspective

Abstract

At a time when academics and people in general are becoming more and more distant from nature, there are now movements to bring back the relations with nature. In this sense Joakim Goldhahn’s book on birds in the Bronze Age is part of this development, to broaden our understanding of the relations with nature, which we as humans are a part of. Goldhahn’s aim in this book is to explore the relationships and the bonds between birds and humans during the Bronze Age as sets of mutual relations, and in his own words; ‘Yes, viewed from a relational ontology, the history of humans and birds are entwined’ (p. 7). However, his aim is more ambitious than this as he wants to question the distinction we draw between ourselves as human beings and other beings, as well as challenging the current mainstream Bronze Age studies of Northern Europe (p. 17–18). The book centres around three main themes: Lift-Off, Birdscapes and Intra-Actions. In addition, there are some important notes to the reader, a prologue, an epilogue and two appendixes. Goldhahn’s geographical focus is primarily the middle and southern parts of Norway and Sweden, as well as Denmark and Northern Germany – a scope which is natural considering his interest and thematic orientation. This is combined with a chronological framework from 2350–500 BCE, which he defines as the Bronze Age (p. xviii). In Part I – Lift off, Goldhahn uses ethnography, anthropological studies, bird divination in the ancient world and folklore to frame the importance of birds and their relations with humans in various settings, not to mention the many similarities between humans and birds (except flying). Theoretically Goldhahn places himself within the recent developments in the humanities and social sciences known as the ontological turn, challenging the Western dualism of nature vs. culture, and between humans and nonhumans. A perspective with no sharp distinctions in a relationship with nature, animals and objects. Here Goldhahn raises an important question not only for this book, but for archaeological research in general: ‘[...], for is it not the key purpose of archaeology to explore these speculations, other ways to know and explore the world, and, in the end, challenge our own understanding of the world?’ (p. 21). In other words, we need to learn about other people, how they perceive and comprehend the world in order to understand relationships materialized in the past. The spectacular and enigmatic MBA burial at Hvidegaard is here used both as a point of departure to develop birdscapes of the Bronze Age. In Part II – Birdscapes Goldhahn takes us to different contexts where we are introduced to birds in mediums such as bronzes, burials, settlements and rock art. His initial argument is that horse imagery in the Bronze Age was found in MBA II throughout LBA I, while bird imagery on the other hand, followed in the wake of this and is found in the first half of MBA III and throughout the rest of the Bronze Age (p. 97–99 and n.12). Goldhahn suggests that the form and the