id
	11801
Url
	https://chloe.cnr.it/s/BiDiAr/item/11801
Resource template
	Academic Article
Resource class
	bibo:AcademicArticle
Title
	The earliest balance weights in the West: Towards an independent metrology for Bronze age Europe
Creator
	Ialongo, Nicola
Date
	2019
Language
	eng
Abstract
	Weighing devices are the earliest material correlates of the rational quantification of economic value, and they yield great potential in the study of trade in pre-literate societies. However, the knowledge of European Bronze Age metrology is still underdeveloped in comparison to Eastern Mediterranean regions, mostly due to the lack of a proper scientific debate. This paper introduces a theoretical and methodological framework for the study of standard weight-systems in pre-literate societies, and tests it on a large sample of potential balance weights distributed between Southern Italy and Central Europe during the Bronze Age (second–early first millennium bc). A set of experimental expectations is defined on the basis of comparisons with ancient texts, archaeological cases and modern behaviour. Concurrent typological, use-wear, statistical and contextual analyses allow to cross-check the evidence against the expectations, and to validate the balance-weight hypothesis for the sample under analysis. The paper urges a reappraisal of an independent weight metrology for Bronze Age Europe, based on adequate methodologies and a critical perspective.
Is Part Of
	Cambridge Archaeological Journal
Cited by
	11060
Doi
	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774318000392
Issn
	0959-7743, 1474-0540
Issue
	1
Pages
	103-124
Uri
	https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/earliest-balance-weights-in-the-west-towards-an-independent-metrology-for-bronze-age-europe/14B2F876E9CAAD0A42BD98F995BB71D4
Volume
	29
Homepage
	https://www.zotero.org/groups/5293298/bidiar/items/HKE6SFNE/item-list

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