Metal-for-Amber in the European Bronze Age

Abstract

Baltic amber is often considered the principal Scandinavian commodity exchanged for metal from ore-rich regions in Europe. If correct, this may explain the astonishing metal wealth of the Nordic Bronze Age and the modest social consumption of amber locally. The hypothesis of a metal-for-amber principle behind the trade is here for the first time assessed on scales from micro to macro. Amber finds were charted across Europe, and the result was then compared to evidence for regular shifts in copper ore preferences/availability, as found in the systematically changing isotopic/elemental composition of Nordic metal objects in c. 2100–1200 BC. Comparisons indicate that amber and metal followed similar spatiotemporal trajectories with major reorganizations at the turn from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age. Shifts in amber distribution correlate with the geography of metal sources used in both periods and flows of metal to Scandinavia and amber to Europe appear to be contingent even in subperiods. Major European amber tracks – and the crossroads hubs controlling them – were identified for the transfer of goods, yet again revealing major changes at the transition to the Middle Bronze Age. The social roles and meanings of amber among Nordic communities were likewise examined, suggesting that bearers of amber played a role in exercising social control of this resource. It is concluded that amber almost certainly was exchanged for metal.