When the grave goods of two people were discovered in the 19th century, they were described as a'shaman's costume'. A new analysis of stone tools found in the grave shows they had gold on their surfaces.
Was it shamans, goldsmiths or something else? Scientists stated in a study that grave goods are more than representations of a person's identity. The roles of "shaman" and "goldsmith" don't adequately represent individuals who may have represented many different things to a Bronze Age community.
"We tend to think of people in simple categories but this modern western approach should be put to one side when we think about life in the early second millennium B.C."
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The first image of two.
The Bronze Age artifacts, including the stone tools, were found in a barrow or burial mound in the 19th century.
flint axes, a necklace of beads of polished stone, and dozens of bone points are included in the piece. At that time, the collection was thought to be the grave goods of a "shaman" or holy man.
The shaman and his wife were thought to be the genders of the two people buried in the barrow.
The study's lead author, Rachel Crellin, an archaeologist at the University of Leicester, believes that one of them was known for their ability to create ornaments from gold and other precious materials.
She said that the two people were associated with a toolkit that allowed them to make incredibly fine and beautiful objects.
The first image of two.
During a reanalysis of the artifacts using modern archaeological techniques, researchers discovered the traces of gold on the stone tools, which included using a scanning electron microscope and an X-ray spectrometer to verify the presence of any residues and determine their chemical make up.
The study confirmed that the traces of gold on the tools are from prehistoric times, and that they have the same impurities as other sources of gold.
Crellin said that the wear on the stone tools shows they were used to shape gold and a variety of other materials, such as amber, wood, copper and jet.
Small ornaments, such as belt-hooks and clasps, were often made during the Bronze Age with a "core" of materials, which would then be covered in a thin sheet of gold.
The Golden Barrow is located a few miles from the barrow where the tools were found.
The idea that the entire area was a prehistoric necropolis is strengthened by the fact that both barrows are among the many prehistoric graves found within a few miles of Stonehenge.
The Golden Barrow contained the remains of a single person who had been buried with gold ornaments and other objects.
If the gold traces on the tools match the gold objects from the Golden Barrow, Crellin hopes further analysis will determine their geographic origins. She said that it was the million-dollar question.
Susan Greaney was not involved in the study, but she said that it shows how fine artifacts could have been considered magical.
She said that the ability to transform other objects by covering them with a gold sheet may have been seen as a magical or ritual process. The research shows how metalworking was related to certain beliefs.
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