Gold in Britain's auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC: towards a coherent Research Framework and Strategy

我们的目标是更好地了解在英国含金(含金)地区-苏格兰、威尔士和英格兰西部部分地区发现的铁器时代之前的黄金文物。其中包括一些英国最著名的黄金制品，比如在威尔士东北部莫尔德发现的重达720克的斗篷。尽管经过几十年的研究和公众对这类文物的长期迷恋，许多问题仍然存在：制作这些文物的是本地黄金还是非本地黄金(或者是不同来源的黄金的混合物)？它们是在哪里制造的，如何制造的，为什么制造的？金器的生产是如何组织起来的？开采和加工黄金的技术是如何传承下来的？黄金对使用它的人来说有什么意义、意义和价值？这些问题很重要，因为黄金为我们提供了一种在区域、国家和国际范围内理解铜时代和青铜时代社会和经济动态的方法。自使用黄金以来，黄金一直被用作权力的象征，大约在公元前2450年，大陆移民将提取和加工黄金的技术引入英国。黄金制品将在精英之间的互动中发挥突出作用。作为一种能够捕捉太阳光并让观察者眼花缭乱的稀有而珍贵的材料，它可能被赋予了强大的象征意义。我们才刚刚开始领会它在史前英国的用法和意义的细微差别。但也有一些令人兴奋的进展：金工大师布莱恩·克拉克目前正在完成一件模具‘斗篷’的复制品，他的工作为这位青铜时代的金匠的工具、技术和专业知识带来了新的见解；克里斯·斯坦迪什博士最近对爱尔兰和苏格兰青铜时代早期的一些黄金文物进行了铅同位素分析，推翻了长期以来的观点，表明它们是用来自康沃尔或德文郡的黄金制成的，而不是爱尔兰的黄金。要进一步加深我们的理解，需要跨越学科和地理界限的方法。因此，我们建议首次将欧洲许多最顶尖的史前黄金研究人员--考古学家、地质学家、地球化学家、考古学家和从事黄金工作的人--与早期职业研究人员和研究生一起组成一个研究网络。他们的任务是评估我们对公元前2450-公元前800年英国含金地区作为原材料和成品的了解和了解，并将其置于更广泛的国家和国际背景下；确定关键的悬而未决的研究问题；并制定一致、有效的研究战略来解决这些问题。他们将通过在爱丁堡、卡迪夫和都柏林(强调在这一时期确实存在的密切的爱尔兰联系)举行的一系列三次研讨会来做到这一点。由此产生的研究框架和战略将作为在线、开放获取的资源在苏格兰国家博物馆的网站上传播。为什么要把重点放在英国的含金区呢？这是因为：i)在未重复回收或由混合来源黄金制成的物品的情况下，这里是我们检测本地黄金与非本地黄金使用情况的最好机会；以及ii)任务在项目时间表内是可管理的。但该网络的前景和价值将进一步扩大：它将为史前黄金研究设定新的标准，并为一项重大的国际研究项目奠定基础。该网络的活动将是面向外部的，使广泛的利益相关者受益。将有网络成员的公开讲座和播客，并在都柏林研讨会之后，为网络的网页拍摄布莱恩·克拉克的青铜时代风格金属加工的实际演示。来自研究区域的单个黄金物品的信息和图像将发布在网页上，社交媒体将跟踪事态发展并允许公众反馈。将有学术和流行出版物以及会议演示，包括在2019年EAA会议上。

We aim to understand better the pre-Iron Age gold artefacts that have been found in Britain's auriferous (gold-bearing) regions - Scotland, Wales and parts of western England. These include some of Britain's best-known gold objects, such as the 720-gramme 'cape' found at Mold, north-east Wales. Despite decades of study and perennial public fascination in such objects, many questions still remain: was local or non-local gold used to make them (or a mixture of gold from different sources)? Where, how and why were they made? How was the production of gold objects organised? How was the know-how for extracting and working gold passed on? What was gold's significance, meaning and value to the people who used it? Such questions are important because gold offers us a way of understanding the social and economic dynamics of Copper Age and Bronze Age societies, at regional, national and international scales. Gold has been used as a symbol of power ever since its use, and the know-how to extract and work it, were introduced to Britain by Continental immigrants around 2450 BC. Gold objects will have played a prominent role in interactions between elites. As a rare, precious material that can catch the sun's rays and dazzle the observer, it was probably invested with potent symbolism. We have only just begun to appreciate the nuances of its use and significance in prehistoric Britain. But there are exciting developments: master goldworker Brian Clarke is currently completing a replica of the Mold 'cape', his work yielding new insights into the tools, techniques and expertise of the Bronze Age goldworker; and Dr Chris Standish's recent lead isotope analysis of Irish and some Scottish Early Bronze Age gold artefacts has overturned long-held views by showing they were made using gold from Cornwall or Devon, rather than Ireland.Developing our understanding further requires an approach that crosses disciplinary and geographical boundaries. So we propose to bring together, for the first time, many of the foremost researchers on prehistoric gold in Europe - archaeologists, geologists, geochemists, archaeometallurgists and practising goldworkers - into a Research Network, along with early career researchers and postgraduates. They will be tasked with taking stock of what we do and do not know about gold as a raw material and as finished artefacts in Britain's auriferous regions, c 2450-800 BC, setting this within a broader national and international context; defining the key outstanding research questions; and formulating a coherent, effective research strategy to tackle those questions. They will do so through a series of three symposia, held in Edinburgh, Cardiff and (to underline the strong Irish links that did exist during this period) Dublin. The resulting Research Framework and Strategy will be disseminated as an on-line, open access resource on the National Museums' Scotland website. Why focus on Britain's auriferous regions? Because: i) here is where we have the best chance of detecting the use of local vs. non-local gold in the case of objects that have not been repeatedly recycled or made from mixed-source gold; and ii) the task is manageable within the project timescale. But the Network's perspective and value will extend far further: it will set new standards for prehistoric gold research and lay the foundations for a major international research project.The Network's activities will be outward-facing, benefiting a wide range of stakeholders. There will be public lectures and podcasts by Network members and,after the Dublin symposium, a practical demonstration of Bronze Age-style metalworking by Brian Clarke, filmed for the Network's web pages. Information on and images of individual gold objects from the study area will be posted on the web pages, and social media will track developments and allow public feedback. There will be academic and popular publications and conference presentations, including at the 2019 EAA conference.