MEISTER UND IHRE KUNDEN. HERSTELLUNG UND VERBREITUNG GEGOSSENER BRONZEGEGENSTÄNDE IM SPÄTAWARENZEITLICHEN KARPATENBECKEN
MEISTERS AND THEIR CUSTOMERS. PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CAST BRONZE OBJECTS IN THE LATE-CARPATHIAN BASIN

Summary/Abstract: The paper discusses the system of late Avar bronze casting workshops of the Carpathian Basin, their specialisation and the problems of the distribution of bronze objects. Comparing the strong specialisation, which seems certain also from the experiences of practical archaeology, with the strong probability that most of the late Avar casts were re-moulded, the extensive attitude of the Avar period workshop practice becomes conspicuous. The lack of mass produced objects refutes the existence of a regular circulation of bronze objects independent of the producer. The reconstructed system rather implies the activity of itinerant artisans. Thus the concept of “workshop” in the late Avar Carpathian Basin actually means the complexity of know-how and material goods concentrated around a master without having a spatial relevance. The organization of work is different from the system of localised workshops of the West European Merovingian and Carolingian periods.

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