The Bronze Age Cont

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The Bronze Age Cont.

The developments in metal working continued, and around 1,000 bc. we see the PRODUCTION of SPEARHEADS, from BRONZE. These Spear Heads were made by means of CASTING, and again took many forms. The examples here are SOCKETED, i.e. the timber shaft would have been inserted into the head and tied to it by means of the handles provided for this purpose. The overall design of these spear heads reflects their use, i.e. to be thrown through the air to kill animals or indeed a human being. Their design is ERGONOMIC, i.e. made to fly through the air, and to travel as far as possible. Think of a modern day Jet Fighter. Wings swept back to allow it to SPEED, and manoeuvre through the air. Design is ever changing but most good ideas are just re- hashed.

The original light bulbs from the,1800 ad. , with their carbon filaments are still in use today, and are turned on for about ten hours each day. Today we have " built in obsolescence ", i.e. built to be thrown away as soon as possible. This BRONZE age Candle can still be used today. All it needs is to be filled with animal fat, and a rush wick through it, and there you go. Not alone that but it is portable, and reusable. It was simple to make, i.e. a depression cut or ground into the stone and for 1,500 bc. it served very well.

A MILL STONE and Bronze Cooking POT 700bc. and 1000bc. :- As the people of the Bronze Age were FARMERS, they reared animals and grew crops, especially GRAIN. This grain had to be processed before it could be consumed and so milling had to take place. Originally two pieces of stone rubbed together, with the grain thrown in between them, every so often, would have been used but as ever, this was to be superseded. The MILLSTONE here would be just one half of the mill. This flour mill had a bottom stone, ( not shown here), with groves cut into its top face. These grooves helped, to both hold the grain , while being ground, and to help in grinding the grain to a finer flour. The top stone had, as here, a hole cut out of its centre, through which the grain was added. The turning of this stone combined with the Grooves on the bottom one, allowed the grain to move to the edges and so GROUND into flour.

Bronze was also used to make COOKING pots. The example here is made from beaten / hammered pieces which are slightly rounded so that when they are put together they form a bowl shape. The drilled holes for the RIVETS had to be lined up precisely so that the rivet could be HAMMERED through both pieces, ( to be held together ). Also, the pot is narrow at its base and widens at the top. The top section is all of one piece which was RAISED and PLANISHED, ( beaten ). It has two bronze hooks which hold the circular RINGS , used to hold the pot over an open fire. The PIERCED / PUNCHED decorations, continue all around the RIM piece. The fact that this pot does not have a flat bottom means that it was probably always meant to be hung over a fire.