Stephanie Aulsebrook

Although I’m happy to acknowledge the enormous contribution that other forms of archaeological evidence have made on our understanding of the past, it has always objects, particularly metalwork, that has held the greatest fascination for me. By the time I chose my PhD topic I was very disappointed with the general interpretations being applied to the archaeological category of ‘prestige goods’, that is to say objects used by elite members of society to symbolise their status and differentiate themselves. These objects seemed to be considered fundamentally interchangeable all sharing, at a practical level, the same function (visual wealth display) with their cultural meanings drawn from a shortlist of well-rehearsed arguments, such as the use of exotic materials to emphasise external contacts and facilitate control over access. To me, it just didn’t do justice to the astonishing complexity and diversity in past material culture, especially metalwork. Although I first intended to right this small part of the world through the study of weapons (a subject that I had long been interested in and which are an essential part of the Mycenaean warrior ideology) this ended up morphing into metalware. Since then I have continued to concentrate on understanding the various roles that metals fulfilled in Aegean Bronze Age societies with a bottom-up approach that focuses on the biography of objects, from their ‘birth’ or manufacture through to their exit from the human world. What really interests me is the way that past people interacted with metalwork and what it meant to them. When studying objects myself I rely mainly on traditional artefact analysis skills to which I’ve recently started to add modern techniques of use wear analysis. Along the way I’ve had the opportunity to handle some rather amazing ancient metal objects and have fun making a replica Bronze Age sword.

• ‘Peaceful’ Minoans, ‘Warlike’ Mycenaeans and their Precious Metal Vessels: A Reassessment of a Tired Cliché