From obvious to ambiguous : a comparative case study of crucible fragments from a bronze age site in northern Finland

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>An assemblage consisting of sixteen Bronze Age crucible fragments from the Halosentörmä site, located by the Bothnian Bay in northern Finland, is analysed here using the interpretative framework developed recently by Scandinavian scholars. At least two crucibles, both apparently applied for casting several times due to the amount of use-wear, are first identified. The examination of the interior surfaces of selected fragments with a portable XRF analyser for traces of metal confirms their use in copper-alloy metallurgy. Their find context at the site, however, hints at shortlived experiments rather than the existence of a proper bronze workshop. As such experiments might have had important social and even cosmological functions, the results underline the significance of metallurgical ceramics and their find contexts for archaeological interpretation both in Finland and elsewhere in northern Fennoscandia.</p></div>