Abstract:

A central point of the Bronze Age society is directly related to the long distance exchange and consequently the degree of human mobility. Exotic artifacts found across northern Europe indicate extensive connections with distant areas. However, it is not known whether these exotic objects have been traded from neighbor chiefdom to neighbor chiefdom -low human mobility- or by individuals that traveled widely across the continent -high human mobility. This essential research question has presently been strongly highlighted by the cross-disciplinary investigations of the Egtved Girl which provided the first evidence of long distance mobility of a single individual. Consequently, the new three-year research project entitled “Tales of Bronze Age Women” aims at investigating how mobile women were during this period. Furthermore, we also wish to shed light on the women’s role in the long distance trade and their identities during the Bronze Age.

The nature of the project is cross-disciplinary, and includes several disciplines and researchers with the aim to achieve a “collective interpretation”.