Cornwall in the Bronze Age A ICIA M C IS IE
CORNISH ARCHAEOLOGY No. 25 (1986) Cornwall in the Bronze Age AICIA M CISIE The Concept of a Bronze 'Age' Any review of the Bronze Age in Cornwall, or indeed in other areas of the British Isles, must today present the writer with a very different prospect to that which lay before Bernard Wailes 28 years ago, although much of the basic information remains the same. We now know, for example, that metallurgy was introduced into these islands before the middle of the third millennium bc, probably from two continental quarters, the Rhineland and the Atlantic region. Our period has lengthened and the calibration of radiocarbon dates means that it not only overlaps the Late Neolithic but also merges into the Iron Age in the mid-first millennium BC, giving a total of some 2000 years. The accumulation of data and dates, togther with advances in excavation and research techniques and the recognition of regional variation, make the whole concept of a Bronze 'age' far more complex than hitherto. In the 1960s, HawkeV scheme for the divisions of the British Bronze Age provided the framework (Hawkes, 1960) and was widely accepted in principle. As more radiocarbon dates have become available, there have nevertheless been surprises and many refinements have been applied, allowing a broader, more flexible approach into which ceramics and metalwork can be fitted. Today the most widely accepted scheme is that propounded by Burgess (in 5/0 wo OE AGE SIES SS 00 SX - 2,0 Fig 1 Location map showing principal sites mentioned in the text. Settlements or occupation