En hållbar utveckling?

Sammanfattning: The aim of this essay is to study bronze casting during the Scandinavian bronze age through the artefact crucibles. The main question is; how many castings has it been possible to do with the crucibles found at Broåsen Sweden before they had to be discarded? Other investigations of bronze casting have stated that 1-10 castings is the maximum amount of usage for a ceramic crucible, thereby making it a mass-produced and low value item. Earlier studies have however not focused on the crucibles themselves but rather some other part of the craft, making the usage, shape and content of the reconstructed crucibles used relatively inaccurate. By studying the Broåsen crucibles both in shape and raw material (clay and temper) eight replicas where made, representing three different groups of temper that were present in the original findings. These replicas were used to cast bronze in a reconstructed bronze age workshop. The results show us that two of three groups of crucibles where usable even after 20 castings. These two groups represent highly skilled craftsmen. The third group lasted for 1 to 6 castings and may represent a lower skilled group or a mistake made by the founders during the production, or more likely myself during the reconstruction. After the experiments the archaeological material from Broåsen was again studied. The replicas were used as a reference material to investigate for how many times the crucibles have been used. The conclusion was once again that the crucibles from Broåsen seem to have been useful even after 20 castings. This gives a hint about the knowledge of the bronze casters at Broåsen and thereby also their status in society.