A Late Bronze Age hoard from Elgiszewo reflects the complex interplay between bronzesmithing, metal hoarding and local identity
Jacek Gackowski, Łukasz Kowalski, Andrzej P. Kowalski, Aldona Garbacz-Klempka, Grzegorz Osipowicz, Albin Sokół, Mateusz Ćwiek, Mariusz Bosiak, Marek Kołyszko, Andrzej Krzyszowski, Maciej Markiewicz, Paweł Molewski, Agnieszka M. Noryśkiewicz, Małgorzata Perek-Nowak, Anna Rembisz-Lubiejewska, Tomasz Skorupka, Mateusz SosnowskiAbstract
In 2014, a multi-type hoard of bronze metalwork was unearthed as a result of illegal metal detection on the peaty lakeshore in the village of Elgiszewo, north-central Poland. The hoard contains horse gear items, body and dress ornaments and other metal objects dating back to the Late Bronze Age, accompanied by casting mould and a Kannelurenstein that could have once formed part of a metalworker’s toolkit. This article presents and discusses the results of archaeological and metallographic examinations of the hoard, aided by paleoenvironmental, petrographic and traceological investigations of Kannelurensteine from the region. The results are then combined with the wider socio-economic context of the North European Bronze Age, including the geography of metal hoarding and the use of metal in the economic, social and ritual activities of the Lusatian period in Poland.