Metal Hoards as Ritual Gifts: Circulation, Collection and Alienation of Bronze Artefacts in Late Bronze Age Europe

This paper argues that the metal objects buried in Late Bronze Age hoards were intentionally put out of circulation and left in a dead end as a ritual and performative act of gift giving. The subtraction of a great quantity of wealth - tangible and symbolic - was performed through codified practices that involved different segments of the society i.e. different actors.8 In hoarding practices the display of status, wealth and power can be regarded as the expressions of elites' ambitions to exhibit and institutionalise their political power.