| Life in the Bronze Age |
|
|
|
The Bronze Age was the period when bronze was used to produce tools. This
was the first metal used, although some items were made of metal in the
late Neolithic (farming Stone Age). Most of the metal tools made at the
start of the Bronze Age were display items that indicated status. By the
middle of the Bronze Age metal was used to produce tools that were used
for work. Farming was the main source of food and there is good evidence
for the clearance of the Cheviot hills, and for the development of a
society with a clear hierarchy.
|
|
Metal smiths, potters, farmers and nobility, warriors
and religious classes, and possibly even slaves, existed in the Bronze Age
and this meant that people had to become more reliant on group co-operation.
Claims on territory were important, and the field systems were established
to express ownership. Ritual was alsoimportant, and tools and weapons were
sacrificed to the gods by being buried, thrown into the water, or destroyed. The scene to the right is an artist's impression of the activities carried out on the Howick site during the Bronze Age. What activities does the scene portray ? What do you think the location of the cemetery on a prominent point of land as seen from the sea suggests about transport and travel in the Bronze Age ? Why do you think there is not any evidence of settlement or agricultural activities from the Bronze Age at Howick ? |
|
