Perhaps more important than any other grave goods that the archer was buried with was the cushion stone, which was important in the working of metal, and two gold hair tresses. These were incredibly important finds, as the gold was the earliest found to date in Britain, and the cushion stone indicates that the archer was able to work metals, which could be part of the explanation as to why he seemed to have such high status. However it would also seem that he was a skilled hunter, due to his being buried with a slate wrist guard used with longbows to protect from the recoil, and arrowheads. We can infer that the archer may have been very skilled at working copper, and would have been one of the first people in Britain to be able to work gold. This would have given him a huge amount of status with the people, and this could suggest that not all of the grave goods were his own personal possessions, but rather offerings of local people as a way to show his status.
Another hugely significant find in the archers grave were the beaker pots, as he was from the European area and archaeologists knew that this was where the beaker pots had originated from. However they had originally believed that the beaker pots had been brought to Britain as a result of an invasion, but more recently had attributed it to trade, which could signify that the archer had brought the pots from his native land to Britain, which could infer they he may have not only have been a metal worker, but also a trader, and is therefore a prime example of foreign people bringing the beaker culture to Britain.
The archer has been dated to around the time that the stones of Stonehenge were erected, and it is believed that his status may also have been linked to a possible part played in the creation of Stonehenge itself, although he may simply have been traveling to visit newly erected stones, it is impossible to tell as the dates given to the archers remains cannot be exact. However we can say that he was almost definitely well aquainted with Stonehenge and the surrounding areas.
In conclusion there is a lot that we can learn from the Amesbury Archer from his grave goods, and also from his remains. It is possible to learn why he may have had such high status leading to a huge amount of grave goods, due to his skill with working newly introduced metals, and we can also learn that he may have been one of the early Europeans to introduce the beaker pot culture to Britain. We know that he would have been the only person locally to be able to work with gold, and his bronze dagger grave goods show status as they would not have been used as an actual weapon. A final important point would be that the archer is important in showing the change of society in early Bronze Age Britain as the stone age had been a time of relative equality, but with the bronze age came an increase in newfound status of individuals.
by
aliceablaze (student)
