Stone wrist-guard
Encyclopedia
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
from around 2400-1900BC and are closely associated with the Beaker culture
Beaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
and Unetice culture
Unetice culture
Unetice; or more properly Únětice culture ; is the name given to an early Bronze Age culture, preceded by the Beaker culture and followed by the Tumulus culture. It was named after finds at site in Únětice, northwest of Prague. It is focused around the Czech Republic, southern and central Germany,...
. In the past they have been variously known as stone bracers, stone arm-guards and armlets, although "stone wrist-guard" is currently the favoured terminology.
The wrist-guards are small rectangles of stone (often slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
) with a number of perforations, typically between two and six, which might allow attachment to the arm with cord. One, from Hemp Knoll in Wiltshire, had markings which clearly indicate its attachment to the arm by two cords. The shapes of the wrist-guard are stereotyped and common forms exhibit a narrowed 'waist' and curved cross-section (presumably so they fit the arm better). Stone wrist-guards are exclusively found in the graves of males, often lying next to the corpse's wrist. Rare examples - three in Great Britain - are decorated with gold rivets or foil.
It was originally thought that these stone wrist-guards were bracer
Bracer
A bracer is a strap or sheath, commonly made of leather, stone, or plastic that covers the inside of an archer's arm to protect it while shooting. Bracers keep the inside of the archer's forearm from getting hurt by the string of the bow or the fletching of the arrow; they also prevent loose...
s, used by archers to protect their bow arms from the string of the bow. However, recent research has highlighted that (in Britain at least) they do not commonly occur in graves in association with arrowheads (the Amesbury Archer
Amesbury Archer
The Amesbury Archer is an early Bronze Age man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development in Amesbury near Stonehenge. The grave was uncovered in May 2002, and the man is believed to date from about 2300 BC. He is nicknamed the "archer" because of the...
being a notable exception) and nor are they commonly found on the part of the arm that would need protection from the bow string (on a right-handed archer, the inside left wrist). They are usually found on the outside of the arm where they would have been more conspicuous. Many have only two holes which would make them difficult to fasten securely to the arm, and some have projecting rivets which would catch on the bow string and make them unsuitable for use as a bracer.
When the objects occur in barrows, they always occur in the central primary grave, a place thought to be reserved for heads of family and other important people. Many show great skill in polishing and stone working, and few are found in areas from which their stone originates. It seems likely that, as found in graves, these objects were used as symbols of status within family groups. They may have been status symbols of prowess in hunting or war, possibly mounted as decorations on functional bracers. However, one at least (from Barnack in Cambridgeshire) had pressed foil caps in each of its 18 holes. These caps would have prohibited any form of rivet or cord being used as a means of attachment. A few prehistoric wrist-guards made of gold or amber have also been found; these are generally accepted not to be functional.
Famous burials containing stone wrist-guards include the Amesbury Archer
Amesbury Archer
The Amesbury Archer is an early Bronze Age man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development in Amesbury near Stonehenge. The grave was uncovered in May 2002, and the man is believed to date from about 2300 BC. He is nicknamed the "archer" because of the...
and Barnack Burial
Barnack
Barnack is a village and civil parish in the City of Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire, England. It is located in the north-west of the district, only four miles south-east from Stamford in Lincolnshire. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 851 people. Barnack's...
.
Terminology
The wrist-guards are commonly classified following either the 1970 Atkinson classification (cited in Clarke 1970) or the 2006 Smith classification. Of the two it is the 2006 Smith classification which is less rigid and more descriptive. It uses a three-character system to classify the objects on three simple characteristics:Total number of perforations: (e.g. 2, 4, 6 etc.)
Shape in plan: described as-
- 'Waisted', having a narrow mid-section
- 'Tapered', having narrow ends
- 'Straight-sided', having a rectangular plan
Shape in transverse cross-section: described as-
- 'Curved', having a concavo-convex cross-section
- 'Plano-Convex', having a plano-convex cross-section, (i.e. one side flat and the other curved)
- 'Flat', having a flat or slightly bi-convex cross-section
The most common types of wrist-guard are the 'tapered variety' consisting of 2TFs, 'straight variety' consisting mainly of 4SFs and 6SFs and the 'waisted variety' consisting mainly of 4WCs
This is how the 1970 Atkinson classification translates into the newer classificatory system:
A1 =2TF
A2 =2TF
B1 =2SF
B2 =4SF
B3 =6SF
C1 =4WC
C2 =2WC