BRONZE-AGE RING MONEY

The modern world runs on a constant flow of money that has its roots in simpler proto-currencies pioneered on regional levels by ancient peoples.

A pair of archaeologists believe they have identified a very early example of commodity money in Europe, used some 3,500 years ago during the Bronze Age, with denominations that took the form of bronze rings, ribs and ax blades. People at this time frequently buried collections of these ubiquitous items, leaving a wealth of scattered "hoards" across the European continent.

In a study published on Wednesday in PLOS ONE, Maikel Kuijpers, an assistant professor in European prehistory at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and Catalin N. Popa, who was a postdoctoral researcher there, compared the weights of more than 5,000 Bronze Age rings, ribs and blades, sourced from over 100 hoards that contained five or more items.

The results revealed that 70 percent of the rings were so close in mass — averaging about 7 ounces — that they would have been indistinguishable if weighed by hand. While the ribs and ax blades are not quite as uniform, the study concludes that the artifacts are similar enough to collectively demonstrate "the earliest development of commodity money in prehistoric Central Europe."

"It is a very clear standardization," Dr. Kuijpers said.

While other researchers questioned some of their conclusions, they agreed that the study added to our knowledge of the economic activities of ancient peoples.

Bronze Age ribs. A central innovation of bronze is the ability to make duplicates by casting the metal in molds, and the study speculates these copies gave rise, over time, to an abstract concept of weight.

To read the complete article, see:
An Ancient Form of European Money: Bronze Rings, Ribs and Blades (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/20/science/bronze-rings-money.html)

To read a Daily Mail article forwarded by Dick Hanscom, see:
Europe's first common currency: Early Bronze Age people used rings, bangles and even axe blades as an early form of money 5,000 years ago (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9168501/Early-Bronze-Age-people-used-rings-bangles-axe-blades-early-form-money-5-000-years-ago.html)

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