Articles by Bastiaan Steffens
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022
Using a corpus of over 370 compositional analyses of Dutch Bronze Age and Iron Age (c. 2000 BCE A... more Using a corpus of over 370 compositional analyses of Dutch Bronze Age and Iron Age (c. 2000 BCE AD 0) copper alloy artefacts, long-term patterns in the types of alloys used for specific bronze objects are identified. As the Low Countries are devoid of copper ores and alloying elements, a combination of typo(chrono)logical and compositional analysis is used to identify through which European contact networks (such as Atlantic, Central European or Nordic exchange networks) these alloys were obtained. We employ a methodology that (following Bray et al., 2015) defines alloy groups by presence of As, Sb, Ag and Ni over 0.1 %wt, but expanded this classification to include Pb and to track high-impurity (>1%wt) alloys. Due to interfering soil-derived iron hydroxides, and preferent dissolution of copper from the objects' surface, the determination of tin is in most cases overestimated when using p-XRF, so Sn was not systematically reviewed. Objects were assigned a calendar age in years BCE to facilitate chronological sorting. Using this classification, we could show how different alloys (using different base ores) were used in different periods, and in different combinations. Moreover, particular alloys were used for different groups of functional types of objects. Also, we show diachronic differences in the influx of new (or less frequently mixed) alloys and chronological trends in the substitution of As by Sn as main alloying element in the Early Bronze Age as well as the rise of leaded alloys at the close of the Bronze Age. Combining information on the composition of the objects with their typological traits, allowed us to reconstruct the scales and geographic scopes of the European contact networks in which the copper alloys used throughout later prehistory were obtained.
Metaaltijden, 2022
editorial to the Metaaltijden journal volume 9
paleo aktueel, 2021
The Anatomy of the Museum: researching the archaeological exhibition
Archaeology exhibitions ten... more The Anatomy of the Museum: researching the archaeological exhibition
Archaeology exhibitions tend to follow a formulaic layout. They are mostly chronologically ordered and describe long-lasting historical processes. This article aims to dissect the archaeology museum in order to study the techniques used to create these narratives separately from each other. It is argued that the architecture of the old, monumental museum buildings was designed with specific purposes in mind that coincided with how archaeology was conceived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, the way information is employed throughout exhibitions favours long-term histories over short-term object biographies. The end result is that archaeology exhibitions are often descriptive in nature rather than explanatory. Here it is argued that this is not in line with how academic archaeology is currently practised. And that we need to adopt a perspective that approaches history as an active process of becoming, so that links between past and present can be clearly presented in a museum context. Such exhibitions have the ability to explain not only the past, but also our present situation, and perhaps even to act as a call to action to change this situation.
LUNULA XXVIII, 2020
In 1982, a hut was being constructed in the Emmerdennen area, during which "…on a single spade, a... more In 1982, a hut was being constructed in the Emmerdennen area, during which "…on a single spade, at c. 60 cm below the surface" two Bronze Age palstaves emerged. Later investigation in 1983 by the Groningen Institute for Archaeology, discovered that the axes originated from a
prehistoric pit. This pit comprised a quartzite stone, four tiny fragments
of quarts-tempered Bronze Age pottery and a single flint flake. The remainder of the fill consisted of soil with tiny fragments of natural granite rock and small fragments of charcoal, indicating that soil enriched with settlement debris was used to backfill the pit. In this article, we investigate the deposition of the two as-cast axes.
Books by Bastiaan Steffens
Nederlandse Archeologische Rapporten 53
In 1992, the member states of the Council of Europe co-signed the European Convention on the Prot... more In 1992, the member states of the Council of Europe co-signed the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage in Valletta (Malta) This has led to the development-led archaeology in many countries, also in the Netherlands, especially from 2001 onwards. But has Development-led archaeology been able to generate new knowledge about the past? Has increased prospection and excavation activity payed of? Should we continue in the same style, or should we formulate new kinds of research questions?
These are the kinds of questions that the present book aims to discuss. The main goal is to assess the gain in knowledge resulting from development-led archaeology, notably for remains of the period 2850-1500 cal BC: the Late Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the start of the Middle Bronze Age. We know this period very well from burial mounds and bronze hoards. Bronze objects and burial assemblages are widely discussed in international literature, for the Bell Beaker period even with the Netherlands as a typological role model. The question we raise in this book is whether development-led archaeology has confirmed this picture, or whether large scale excavations in ‘Malta-context’ have generated other types of evidence. Have we been able to detect houses from these periods, or settlements? Are these comparable for all regions or are there regional differences? Do we have indications for social stratification; for migrations?
The answers to such questions are hidden in the many reports that development-led archaeology has produced in the last 15 years. The problem is that so many site reports have been, that it is a large task to synthesise these data and translate them into coherent models. Therefor the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) commissioned the authors to go over all the data assembled in the last 15 years, present them to the wider public in a synthesised form, and answer a number of research questions. Because these data are published in Dutch language site reports, this book has been written in English to make the data available to a European (scientific) public. Relevant sites have all been summarised in Chapter 7, which therefore has become the central part of this publication. A synthesis of the Dutch data was formulated in Chapter 8, demonstrating that especially settlement evidence has dramatically changed our perception of the period. The traditional image based on burial data needs to be altered completely. This has implications for the international discourse on the Beaker period as well.
The book ends with a large number of methodical and theoretical avenues that can be followed to gain more knowledge in the next fifteen years of development-led archaeology. We plea for a far more integrated approach between all specialists involved in archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis. Only then we will be really able to generate new knowledge about the past.
Book chapters by Bastiaan Steffens
Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's, 2018
Introduction chapter to book published for the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", w... more Introduction chapter to book published for the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", which was shown in the Drents Museum in Assen from the 15th of December 2018 to the 5th of May 2019.
Nubië - Het Land van de Boog, 2018
Chapter 2 from the book published with the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", which... more Chapter 2 from the book published with the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", which was shown in the Drents Museum in Assen from the 15th of December 2018 to the 5th of May 2019.
Nubië - Epiloog, 2018
Epilogue chapter to the book published for the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", w... more Epilogue chapter to the book published for the exhibition "Nubië - Land van de Zwarte Farao's", which was shown in the Drents Museum in Assen from the 15th of December 2018 to the 5th of May 2019.
Theses by Bastiaan Steffens
The concept of abandonment is often framed within a biographical perspective where the house has ... more The concept of abandonment is often framed within a biographical perspective where the house has the possibility to be understood in different ways throughout its use-life. Previous studies of abandonment mostly problematized how abandonment depositions were indicative of how abandonment itself was conducted, but hardly engaged with how the house-site was re-used afterwards. This results in a view of settlements where the abandonment of almost all houses is something that cannot be commented upon. Consequently, continuity and change in the use of settled landscapes cannot be viewed in relation to how people dealt with their own pasts. In contrast with this approach, the central problem discussed here revolves around how the structured analysis of abandonment practices can help to define the house during and past its abandonment in order to add temporality to our interpretations of the settled landscape. This means that the ability of past places to be of influence on future actions is investigated, particularly pertaining to the prehistoric house-site.
The resulting study dealt with abandonment from a practice-theory perspective,
and attempted to highlight changes in use of the house-site between the house’s
use-phase, abandonment phase and post-abandonment phase. Specific attention is
awarded to how the house itself was treated through the detailed study of soil features. The case-study employed to demonstrate this approach is focussed at the Westfrisian Bronze Age. This is a region where multiple large-scale settlement excavations have been performed, but where our understanding of continuity in landscape use does not go beyond general statements regarding differences between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. The subsequent study first focussed on the house during its use-life, which leads to these houses as being characterised as structurally rigid buildings who were both entangled with the lives of people and cattle. However, in the case of the Westfrisian house, it seems apparent that all houses were dismantled upon abandonment. Furthermore, after abandonment most houses were dismantled and reincorporated into a network of ditches. Yet at the same time, there are indications that some houses did retain some importance after abandonment. The detailed study of the use-lives of individual features within the house has pointed out that some houses were re-used as depositional places after abandonment. Further research is needed to understand how these practices relate to the more widespread practice of reincorporating houses into the landscape. Overall, this case-study shows us not only how in this case continuity was guided by large scale settlement structures opposed to individual households, the occurence of some houses which were used as depositional sites also shows us how the creation of the past in the past could have been a politicised event where some pasts were preferred over others.
RMA Thesis Leiden University, 2016.
BA thesis Saxion university of applied sciences, 2013.
Publieksbrochure by Bastiaan Steffens
Het Drentse Landschap, 2020
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Articles by Bastiaan Steffens
Archaeology exhibitions tend to follow a formulaic layout. They are mostly chronologically ordered and describe long-lasting historical processes. This article aims to dissect the archaeology museum in order to study the techniques used to create these narratives separately from each other. It is argued that the architecture of the old, monumental museum buildings was designed with specific purposes in mind that coincided with how archaeology was conceived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, the way information is employed throughout exhibitions favours long-term histories over short-term object biographies. The end result is that archaeology exhibitions are often descriptive in nature rather than explanatory. Here it is argued that this is not in line with how academic archaeology is currently practised. And that we need to adopt a perspective that approaches history as an active process of becoming, so that links between past and present can be clearly presented in a museum context. Such exhibitions have the ability to explain not only the past, but also our present situation, and perhaps even to act as a call to action to change this situation.
prehistoric pit. This pit comprised a quartzite stone, four tiny fragments
of quarts-tempered Bronze Age pottery and a single flint flake. The remainder of the fill consisted of soil with tiny fragments of natural granite rock and small fragments of charcoal, indicating that soil enriched with settlement debris was used to backfill the pit. In this article, we investigate the deposition of the two as-cast axes.
Books by Bastiaan Steffens
These are the kinds of questions that the present book aims to discuss. The main goal is to assess the gain in knowledge resulting from development-led archaeology, notably for remains of the period 2850-1500 cal BC: the Late Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the start of the Middle Bronze Age. We know this period very well from burial mounds and bronze hoards. Bronze objects and burial assemblages are widely discussed in international literature, for the Bell Beaker period even with the Netherlands as a typological role model. The question we raise in this book is whether development-led archaeology has confirmed this picture, or whether large scale excavations in ‘Malta-context’ have generated other types of evidence. Have we been able to detect houses from these periods, or settlements? Are these comparable for all regions or are there regional differences? Do we have indications for social stratification; for migrations?
The answers to such questions are hidden in the many reports that development-led archaeology has produced in the last 15 years. The problem is that so many site reports have been, that it is a large task to synthesise these data and translate them into coherent models. Therefor the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) commissioned the authors to go over all the data assembled in the last 15 years, present them to the wider public in a synthesised form, and answer a number of research questions. Because these data are published in Dutch language site reports, this book has been written in English to make the data available to a European (scientific) public. Relevant sites have all been summarised in Chapter 7, which therefore has become the central part of this publication. A synthesis of the Dutch data was formulated in Chapter 8, demonstrating that especially settlement evidence has dramatically changed our perception of the period. The traditional image based on burial data needs to be altered completely. This has implications for the international discourse on the Beaker period as well.
The book ends with a large number of methodical and theoretical avenues that can be followed to gain more knowledge in the next fifteen years of development-led archaeology. We plea for a far more integrated approach between all specialists involved in archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis. Only then we will be really able to generate new knowledge about the past.
Book chapters by Bastiaan Steffens
Theses by Bastiaan Steffens
The resulting study dealt with abandonment from a practice-theory perspective,
and attempted to highlight changes in use of the house-site between the house’s
use-phase, abandonment phase and post-abandonment phase. Specific attention is
awarded to how the house itself was treated through the detailed study of soil features. The case-study employed to demonstrate this approach is focussed at the Westfrisian Bronze Age. This is a region where multiple large-scale settlement excavations have been performed, but where our understanding of continuity in landscape use does not go beyond general statements regarding differences between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. The subsequent study first focussed on the house during its use-life, which leads to these houses as being characterised as structurally rigid buildings who were both entangled with the lives of people and cattle. However, in the case of the Westfrisian house, it seems apparent that all houses were dismantled upon abandonment. Furthermore, after abandonment most houses were dismantled and reincorporated into a network of ditches. Yet at the same time, there are indications that some houses did retain some importance after abandonment. The detailed study of the use-lives of individual features within the house has pointed out that some houses were re-used as depositional places after abandonment. Further research is needed to understand how these practices relate to the more widespread practice of reincorporating houses into the landscape. Overall, this case-study shows us not only how in this case continuity was guided by large scale settlement structures opposed to individual households, the occurence of some houses which were used as depositional sites also shows us how the creation of the past in the past could have been a politicised event where some pasts were preferred over others.
RMA Thesis Leiden University, 2016.
Publieksbrochure by Bastiaan Steffens
Archaeology exhibitions tend to follow a formulaic layout. They are mostly chronologically ordered and describe long-lasting historical processes. This article aims to dissect the archaeology museum in order to study the techniques used to create these narratives separately from each other. It is argued that the architecture of the old, monumental museum buildings was designed with specific purposes in mind that coincided with how archaeology was conceived in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Moreover, the way information is employed throughout exhibitions favours long-term histories over short-term object biographies. The end result is that archaeology exhibitions are often descriptive in nature rather than explanatory. Here it is argued that this is not in line with how academic archaeology is currently practised. And that we need to adopt a perspective that approaches history as an active process of becoming, so that links between past and present can be clearly presented in a museum context. Such exhibitions have the ability to explain not only the past, but also our present situation, and perhaps even to act as a call to action to change this situation.
prehistoric pit. This pit comprised a quartzite stone, four tiny fragments
of quarts-tempered Bronze Age pottery and a single flint flake. The remainder of the fill consisted of soil with tiny fragments of natural granite rock and small fragments of charcoal, indicating that soil enriched with settlement debris was used to backfill the pit. In this article, we investigate the deposition of the two as-cast axes.
These are the kinds of questions that the present book aims to discuss. The main goal is to assess the gain in knowledge resulting from development-led archaeology, notably for remains of the period 2850-1500 cal BC: the Late Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the start of the Middle Bronze Age. We know this period very well from burial mounds and bronze hoards. Bronze objects and burial assemblages are widely discussed in international literature, for the Bell Beaker period even with the Netherlands as a typological role model. The question we raise in this book is whether development-led archaeology has confirmed this picture, or whether large scale excavations in ‘Malta-context’ have generated other types of evidence. Have we been able to detect houses from these periods, or settlements? Are these comparable for all regions or are there regional differences? Do we have indications for social stratification; for migrations?
The answers to such questions are hidden in the many reports that development-led archaeology has produced in the last 15 years. The problem is that so many site reports have been, that it is a large task to synthesise these data and translate them into coherent models. Therefor the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) commissioned the authors to go over all the data assembled in the last 15 years, present them to the wider public in a synthesised form, and answer a number of research questions. Because these data are published in Dutch language site reports, this book has been written in English to make the data available to a European (scientific) public. Relevant sites have all been summarised in Chapter 7, which therefore has become the central part of this publication. A synthesis of the Dutch data was formulated in Chapter 8, demonstrating that especially settlement evidence has dramatically changed our perception of the period. The traditional image based on burial data needs to be altered completely. This has implications for the international discourse on the Beaker period as well.
The book ends with a large number of methodical and theoretical avenues that can be followed to gain more knowledge in the next fifteen years of development-led archaeology. We plea for a far more integrated approach between all specialists involved in archaeological excavation and post-excavation analysis. Only then we will be really able to generate new knowledge about the past.
The resulting study dealt with abandonment from a practice-theory perspective,
and attempted to highlight changes in use of the house-site between the house’s
use-phase, abandonment phase and post-abandonment phase. Specific attention is
awarded to how the house itself was treated through the detailed study of soil features. The case-study employed to demonstrate this approach is focussed at the Westfrisian Bronze Age. This is a region where multiple large-scale settlement excavations have been performed, but where our understanding of continuity in landscape use does not go beyond general statements regarding differences between the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. The subsequent study first focussed on the house during its use-life, which leads to these houses as being characterised as structurally rigid buildings who were both entangled with the lives of people and cattle. However, in the case of the Westfrisian house, it seems apparent that all houses were dismantled upon abandonment. Furthermore, after abandonment most houses were dismantled and reincorporated into a network of ditches. Yet at the same time, there are indications that some houses did retain some importance after abandonment. The detailed study of the use-lives of individual features within the house has pointed out that some houses were re-used as depositional places after abandonment. Further research is needed to understand how these practices relate to the more widespread practice of reincorporating houses into the landscape. Overall, this case-study shows us not only how in this case continuity was guided by large scale settlement structures opposed to individual households, the occurence of some houses which were used as depositional sites also shows us how the creation of the past in the past could have been a politicised event where some pasts were preferred over others.
RMA Thesis Leiden University, 2016.