[HN Gopher] Research answers what Bronze Age daggers were used for
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Research answers what Bronze Age daggers were used for
Author : rntn
Score : 24 points
Date : 2022-05-02 10:53 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (phys.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (phys.org)
| thih9 wrote:
| Could we replace the title with non-clickbait? E.g.: "Analysis
| shows Bronze Age daggers were used for processing animal
| carcasses".
| tomas_nort wrote:
| jandrese wrote:
| More succinctly: Bronze age daggers were used as ordinary
| kitchen knives.
|
| Except then it sounds like it comes out of the no-duh institute
| of obvious studies.
| adrian_b wrote:
| While this conclusion of the study seems expected and
| obvious, the study has nonetheless been very valuable,
| because previously the majority opinion was that such bronze
| daggers were not tools, but just ornaments for the rich.
|
| The study has included both the analysis of the residues from
| the surface of the ancient daggers and the making of bronze
| replicas, which have been tested successfully as butcher
| knives, so the previously accepted opinion about their
| purpose has been proven to be wrong.
| sillyquiet wrote:
| yeah the why-not-both gif could possibly apply here.
|
| A thing can be an everyday tool AND a status symbol. But in
| this case, WHEN in the bronze age has a lot of bearing.
| Early on, yeah copper-alloy objects were relatively rare
| and expensive, but later as more mining put a LOT of copper
| alloy into trade and those trade networks became more
| extensive, they were less so, and thus you could have finds
| like I think one in England where EVERY HOUSE had copper
| and bronze implements.
|
| The Pragatto finds in the article come from relatively late
| in the Bronze Age, so what they answer is AT THIS
| RELATIVELY LATE DATE, bronze daggers were common enough,
| even though still expensive and rare, to be used as
| everyday implements of slaughter rather than being strictly
| ornamental heirlooms.
| Ekaros wrote:
| Yeah, looking back it is strange that so many things are
| some how associated with religion or status. It does make
| sense with jewellery and some burial goods.
|
| But at time why would something new and not useful be a
| status item? And if it was useful, but rare surely it will
| get lot of use? Good working cutting tools is extremely
| useful thing.
| Gibbon1 wrote:
| A consideration no one was going to make a knife out of a
| super expensive material like bronze that's 'plain'.
| Wouldn't surprise me too if your typical bronze age
| village had at most a few metal knives which were semi-
| communal property.
| sillyquiet wrote:
| *late Bronze age daggers from this excavation were used as
| kitchen knives. The Bronze age was very long and the
| implements produced during it were used for all kinds of
| things, including warfare.
| twomoonsbysurf wrote:
| patwater10 wrote:
| Is the use of daggers for processing animal carcasses exclusive
| to their use as ceremonial items? Why not both?
|
| Anyway articles like this are humbling about how little we know
| about our in the scheme of things not too distant ancestors.
| NaturalPhallacy wrote:
| > This allowed the team to identify micro-residues of collagen
| and associated bone, muscle, and bundle tendon fibers, suggesting
| that the daggers had come into contact with multiple animal
| tissues and were used to process various types of animal
| carcasses. Uses seem to have included the slaughtering of
| livestock, butchering carcasses, and carving the meat from the
| bone.
|
| Saved you most of an article.
| RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote:
| >This allowed the team to identify micro-residues of collagen and
| associated bone, muscle, and bundle tendon fibers, suggesting
| that the daggers had come into contact with multiple animal
| tissues and were used to process various types of animal
| carcasses.
|
| Humans also have bone, muscle, and bundle tendon fibers. Do we
| know these residues are non-human? Another explanation could be
| that they were extensively in warfare.
| a_t48 wrote:
| How much bone would you expect to get on your knife from
| stabbing someone, vs scraping away meat from a bone?
| fred_is_fred wrote:
| "Used for ceremonial purposes" is the default answer for
| absolutely everything that are found by or studied by
| archaeologists. In fact there was a tongue-in-cheek book that
| showed a future archaeologist trying to explain what all our
| modern things were used for. Toilet brush - ceremonies. Toilet
| seat - worn around neck - during ceremonies. I wish I could
| remember the book name.
| i_am_proteus wrote:
| _Motel of the Mysteries_ by David Macaulay
| herman_toothrot wrote:
| Motel of the Mysteries
| hinkley wrote:
| One of my favorite fringe theories on the birth of agriculture
| is that it was initially used for... ceremonies, and then grew
| to staple crops over time.
|
| In some very important ways, celebrations are a playful
| exercise in logistics. Some events are essentially celebrations
| of successful logistics - if you reduce Oktoberfest to its
| essence, you are drinking last year's beer as soon as next
| year's supply is guaranteed.
|
| Humans have a long history of conserving limited supplies of
| intoxicants for celebrations. Given how many of our early crops
| have a recipe for intoxication - wheat, barley, honey, apples,
| the notion that agriculture started for celebrations is not
| _that_ gonzo.
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