ABSTRACT

The article proposes a new interpretation of Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age warrior graves grounded in the ‘Rinaldone’ burial tradition of central Italy, 4th and 3rd millennia BC. In European archaeology, warrior graves are frequently thought to signal the rise of sociopolitical inequality rooted in metal wealth. The work questions the empirical and conceptual foundations of this reading, arguing that, in early Europe, copper was not as rare and valuable as it is often presumed to be; that metalworking did not demand uniquely complex skills; and that metal-rich burials cannot be interpreted in light of modernising ideas of identity. It is argued instead that the key to decoding prehistoric warrior graves lies in context-specific notions of gender, age, and the life course. In particular, life and death circumstances including violence (both inflicted and suffered) would determine why certain individuals were laid to rest with lavish weapon assemblages.

摘要

这篇文章基于公元前 4 世纪和前 3 千年意大利中部的“Rinaldone”墓葬传统，提出了对铜石时代和青铜时代早期战士墓葬的新解释。在欧洲考古学中，战士坟墓经常被认为标志着植根于金属财富的社会政治不平等的上升。该著作质疑这种解读的经验和概念基础，认为在欧洲早期，铜并不像人们通常认为的那样稀有和有价值。金属加工不需要独特的复杂技能；并且不能根据现代化的身份观念来解释富含金属的墓葬。相反，有人认为解码史前战士坟墓的关键在于性别、年龄和生命历程的特定背景概念。尤其是，