Penard Period

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The Penard Period is a metalworking phase of the Bronze Age in Britain spanning the period c. 1275 BC to c. 1140 BC.

It is named after the

typesite of Penard in West Glamorgan, where a hoard of bronze
tools from the period was found in 1827.

The period is characterised by a flowering in experimentation in bronze working, spurred by increased contact with the Urnfield culture of Continental Europe from where early sword and shield imports came.

Chronologically it follows the

Reinecke D and early Hallstatt
A1 periods, and the French Rosnoën and the Montelius III phases.

Developments included the invention of the cylinder sickle and leaf-shaped pegged spearheads, mirroring an increase in the use of sheet bronze. Clay moulds and new lead-rich alloys were also employed.

Bibliography

  • Needham, S.; Bronk Ramsey, C.; Coombs, D.; Cartwright, C.; Pettitt, P. (1997). "An independent chronology for British Bronze Age metalwork: the results of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Programme". Archaeological Journal. 154: 55–107.