Rituals, Hoards and Travellers? Archaeometry of the Iron Age Bronze Wheel Amulets

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the origin and significance of the so-called spoked-wheel amulets from the late Iron Age (3rd to 1st century BC). The type with eight spokes, which most resembles a real chariot wheel, was discovered to be made of a specific alloy containing a large amount of lead and a significant amount of antimony, plus traces of silver and arsenic. This combination of elements signifies the use of a copper known as fahlore (tetrahedrite). Its use in Bohemia after the early Bronze Age is rarely observed, if at all. These amulets are therefore a conspicuous exception. Research in Bavaria has revealed other objects made from fahlore copper. Another connection to Bavaria may be indicated by coin hoards accompanied by bronze closure rings of a similar alloy design. Other cases may suggest that antimony was added as a separate component. Here we discuss the composition and provenance of these objects from the perspective of compositional and lead isotope analysis. IANSA 2020 ● XI/1 ● 33–45 Alžběta Danielisová, Daniel Bursák, Ladislav Strnad, Jakub Trubač, Hana Čižmářová, David Daněček, Kamil Smíšek: Rituals, Hoards and Travellers? Archaeometry of the Iron Age Bronze Wheel Amulets 34 which imitate chariot wheels. They are usually made entirely from lead or from a heavily-leaded alloy (Schwab, 2011). The eight spokes are a regular feature; sometimes there are multiples of eight, as with the sixteen-spoked wheel depicted on a Gundestrup cauldron (Green, 1986). Fourand sixspoked wheels make up a larger and more heterogeneous group. These wheels appear only to suggest rather than imitate chariot wheels and have a simpler design that is perhaps more decorative in the context of late La Tène art. Archaeometric analysis of large assemblages from the La Tène period revealed the recurrence of a particular material composition of the eight-spoked wheels (Danielisová et al., 2018b), which included a large amount of lead, unusually large amounts of antimony, and increased amounts of arsenic and sometimes silver. It was noteworthy that this chemical composition was found only in these amulets and not in the other types of object. West of Bohemia, however, particularly in Bavaria, antimony bronzes have regularly been recorded and associated with the alloying of fahlore copper (Schwab, 2011; 2014a; 2014b). It was not until we detected the same composition in two bronze rings with a rhombic section, used as a closure mechanism in the context of a Celtic coin hoard from Libčice nad Vltavou (Figures 2 and 3), that the connection with Bavaria became worth considering. We therefore decided to give more attention to this matter and to investigate the alloy design and provenance of these objects and to explore the broader socio-cultural or political implications. In addition to “official” commercial Figure 1. Types of wheel amulet from the La Tène period (the oppidum of Stradonice), after Píč, 1903. Figure 2. Map of sites mentioned in the text and main deposits of fahlore coppers and antimonites in central Europe. Filled symbols: wheel amulets; hollow symbols: rings with a rhombic section; sites represent coin hoards, oppida, and lowland settlements. IANSA 2020 ● XI/1 ● 33–45 Alžběta Danielisová, Daniel Bursák, Ladislav Strnad, Jakub Trubač, Hana Čižmářová, David Daněček, Kamil Smíšek: Rituals, Hoards and Travellers? Archaeometry of the Iron Age Bronze Wheel Amulets 35 Figure 3. a) Analysed spoked-wheel amulets from selected sites (cf. Figure 2). The numbers in the picture correspond to the numbers in Table 1 (some objects were not available for documentation). Photo by D. Bursák and A. Danielisová. b) Rings with a rhombic section from coin hoards at Libčice (LIB1–2) and Manching (485–486), and a ring of the same composition from the oppidum of Staré Hradisko (SH 136). Photo by D. Bursák and D. Daněček (LIB1–2); Manching rings (485–486) from Zieghaus, 2013. 0 5 cm