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Bronze Age menu
2500 to 800 BC |
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Cairn
During the Bronze Age the dead were normally cremated and the
remains placed in a pottery vessel (funerary urn) which was set into
the ground beneath a circular mound. Cairn means simply a ‘stony
mound’, and they are the upland equivalent of the earth and stone
round barrows of the lowland zone. Cairns may incorporate a variety
of ‘architectural’ features such as cists and kerbs, and excavation
shows that they often went through a series of developments to reach
the final phase visible today. |
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Hut Circle Settlement
A prehistoric settlement consisting of stone-walled round houses,
usually dateable to the Bronze or Iron Ages. The houses, sometimes
solitary but more often in groups, are now visible only as low stony
banks, but even so, it is often possible to recognise different
constructional techniques in the walling and to identify the
doorways. They survive only in moorland areas and are often
associated with the remains of contemporary field systems. |
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Standing Stone
Setting large stones upright is one of the features of the
megalithic culture which flourished in Britain in the late Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age. Standing stones can occur singly or in
pairs, and are often associated with other megalithic sites,
particularly stone circles. They seem to have played an important
role in the ceremonial and ritual life of the times, and may have
served a variety of purposes, perhaps as memorial stones or grave
markers, way markers or territorial boundary stones. |
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Stone Circle
Stone circles are probably the most dramatic manifestation of the
megalithic culture of the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Very
few are perfectly circular and their function, as expressed in their
layout and design and their landscape context, has sparked
controversy and debate in recent years. They are often found in
association with other megalithic monuments in 'sacred landscapes'
on windswept uplands which may broadly be interpreted as places set
aside for the performance of ceremonial and ritual. |
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The introduction of metalworking marks the beginning of the Bronze
Age. At first gold and then copper objects are made, but
increasingly bronze, made by alloying tin and copper, comes to
dominate. Initially used to create items for personal adornment,
metalworking is rapidly devoted to the production of tools and
weapons.
The large scale clearance of woodland intensifies, and field systems
extend over large areas of the best soil types.
Lowland Cornwall was densely settled but today we get our best
glimpses of life from the upland areas of Bodmin Moor, the Lizard,
and West Penwith. Hundreds of stone round houses and many hundreds
of acres of fields, defined by low stone banks, lie scattered across
these upland plateaux and valley sides. Many were permanently
occupied but others were used only seasonally.
Ceremonial and burial monuments, the stone circles, stone rows,
standing stones and barrows or cairns characterise this period as
religion and ceremony are inseparably woven into the fabric of
everyday life. Bodies are cremated and buried in funerary urns. |
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