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Le origini e la diffusione della metallurgia nel Mediterraneo occidentale (2020)
Book Chapter
PEARCE, M. (2020). Le origini e la diffusione della metallurgia nel Mediterraneo occidentale. In C. Lugliè, & T. Cossu (Eds.), La preistoria in Sardegna: Il tempo delle comunità umane dal X al II millennio a.C (194-197). Nuoro (Sardinia, Italy): Ilisso

The paper reviews the origins and spread of metallurgy in the western Mediterranean

Liguria: aperture e chiusure di un’isola fra due pianure (2020)
Journal Article
Maggi, R., Binder, D., Panelli, C., Gabriele, M., Pearce, M., Rossi, S., & Rowley-Conwy, P. (2020). Liguria: aperture e chiusure di un’isola fra due pianure. Rivista di Scienze Preistoriche, 70(S1), 83-97

This paper discusses Neolithic and Copper Age Liguria, Braudel’s ‘island’, a mountain chain situated between the Mediterranean and the Po plain. The Neolithic colonisation of western Liguria and the Mediterranean coasts of France happened a short ti... Read More about Liguria: aperture e chiusure di un’isola fra due pianure.

Frattesina and the later Bronze Age – Early Iron Age metals trade: the absolute chronology of smelting sites in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol (2020)
Journal Article
Pearce, M., Bellintani, P., & Nicolis, F. (2020). Frattesina and the later Bronze Age – Early Iron Age metals trade: the absolute chronology of smelting sites in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol. Padusa, Bollettino del Centro Polesano, 55, 67-86

We present 15 new 14C dates for copper smelting sites in the Trentino, together with 31 published dates for smelting sites in the region. Smelting may have already begun in the sixteenth century cal BC and continued until the ninth century cal BC. Th... Read More about Frattesina and the later Bronze Age – Early Iron Age metals trade: the absolute chronology of smelting sites in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol.

The ‘Copper Age’ – a history of the concept (2019)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (2019). The ‘Copper Age’ – a history of the concept. Journal of World Prehistory, 32(3), 229-250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-019-09134-z

The idea that there was a Copper Age between the Neolithic and Bronze Age was inspired by the discovery of copper use in prehistoric North America. Its currency in European prehistory owes much to the 1861 observations by William Wilde that copper ar... Read More about The ‘Copper Age’ – a history of the concept.

The Curse of the pXRF: the Negative Consequences of the Popularity of Handheld XRF Analysis of Copper-Based Metal Artefacts (2019)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (2019). The Curse of the pXRF: the Negative Consequences of the Popularity of Handheld XRF Analysis of Copper-Based Metal Artefacts. Metalla, 24(2), 81-85

In this paper I shall explore some of the negative consequences of the current popularity of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis. There is no doubt that this portable device, which can be taken to museums and sites, has revolutionised the stu... Read More about The Curse of the pXRF: the Negative Consequences of the Popularity of Handheld XRF Analysis of Copper-Based Metal Artefacts.

Frattesina: la prospettiva europea (2019)
Book Chapter
Pearce, M. (2019). Frattesina: la prospettiva europea. In A. M. B. Sestieri, P. Bellintani, & C. Giardino (Eds.), Frattesina: un centro internazionale di produzione e di scambio nella Tarda Età del Bronzo del Veneto. Accademia dei Lincei

In this paper I explore what makes Frattesina (Fratta Polesine RO) a key site in Europe during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Frattesina had an important role as an industrial and commercial centre, tied into a trade network that... Read More about Frattesina: la prospettiva europea.

The ‘island of silver veins’: an overview of the earliest metal and metalworking in Sardinia (2018)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (2018). The ‘island of silver veins’: an overview of the earliest metal and metalworking in Sardinia. Metalla, 23(2), 91-111

This paper presents a review of our knowledge of the earliest phases of metal use and working in Sardinia, based where possible on radiocarbon chronology. It covers the cultural periods from the late Neolithic Ozieri to the Copper Age Monte Claro pha... Read More about The ‘island of silver veins’: an overview of the earliest metal and metalworking in Sardinia.

The effects of the Avellino Pumice eruption on the population of the Early Bronze age Campanian plain (Southern Italy) (2018)
Journal Article
Albore Livadie, C., Pearce, M., Delle Donne, M., & Pizzano, N. (2019). The effects of the Avellino Pumice eruption on the population of the Early Bronze age Campanian plain (Southern Italy). Quaternary International, 499(B), 205-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.03.035

Palma Campania, the type-site of the Early Bronze Age Palma Campania culture, was covered by the products of the Avellino Pumice eruption, and was thus preserved in a similar way to the Roman sites in Campania covered by the AD 79 eruption. The devas... Read More about The effects of the Avellino Pumice eruption on the population of the Early Bronze age Campanian plain (Southern Italy).

Storia delle ricerche paletnologiche nel territorio di Varese (2017)
Book Chapter
Pearce, M. (2017). Storia delle ricerche paletnologiche nel territorio di Varese. In M. Harari (Ed.), Storia di Varese: Il territorio di Varese in età preistorica e protostorica. Nomos Edizioni

A history of prehistoric studies in the north Italian province of Varese. The province of Varese saw some of the pioneering work in prehistory in Italy in the 19th century, and many key figures in the history of the discipline have done work in the p... Read More about Storia delle ricerche paletnologiche nel territorio di Varese.

Book review: Social Networks and Regional Identity in Bronze Age Italy. By Emma Blake. Pp. xiv + 325, figs. 23, tables 15, maps 18. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2014. $99. ISBN 978-1-107-06320-4 (cloth) (2017)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (2017). Book review: Social Networks and Regional Identity in Bronze Age Italy. By Emma Blake. Pp. xiv + 325, figs. 23, tables 15, maps 18. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2014. $99. ISBN 978-1-107-06320-4 (cloth). American Journal of Archaeology, 121(3), Article 3497. https://doi.org/10.3764/ajaonline1213.Pearce

Hard cheese: upland pastoralism in the Italian Bronze and Iron Ages (2016)
Book Chapter
Pearce, M. (2016). Hard cheese: upland pastoralism in the Italian Bronze and Iron Ages. In J. R. Collis, M. Pearce, & F. Nicolis (Eds.), Summer farms: seasonal exploitation of the uplands from prehistory to the present (47-56). JR Collis Publications

By moving livestock to summer farms, fodder at the home base is saved but the milk and other animal products produced during the animals’ absence are no longer immediately available to those left at the home base. In this paper I shall explore the ec... Read More about Hard cheese: upland pastoralism in the Italian Bronze and Iron Ages.

Archaeology and archaeometallurgy: some unresolved areas in the interpretation of analytical data (2016)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (in press). Archaeology and archaeometallurgy: some unresolved areas in the interpretation of analytical data. Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/20548923.2016.1160593

This paper uses examples from Mediterranean and in particular Italian prehistory to explore the interface between prehistoric archaeology and metals analysis by examining three areas: the usefulness of data from past analyses (‘what is it made of?’),... Read More about Archaeology and archaeometallurgy: some unresolved areas in the interpretation of analytical data.

Giovanni Patroni e l’opposizione a Luigi Pigorini (2015)
Book Chapter
Pearce, M. (2015). Giovanni Patroni e l’opposizione a Luigi Pigorini. In A. Guidi (Ed.), 150 anni di preistoria e protostoria in Italia. Istituto italiano di preistoria e protostoria

Giovanni Patroni e l’opp osizione a Luigi Pigorini - Giovanni Patroni (1868-1951) is notorious for a virulently anti-communist passage describing the inhabitants of the Terramare, which appears in his La Preistoria d’Italia (2 vols, Milan, 1937). He... Read More about Giovanni Patroni e l’opposizione a Luigi Pigorini.

Early metallurgy in Iberia and the western Mediterranean (2014)
Book Chapter
Bartelheim, M., & Pearce, M. (2015). Early metallurgy in Iberia and the western Mediterranean. In C. Fowler, J. Harding, & D. Hofman (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Neolithic Europe. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199545841.001.0001

This chapter explores early metallurgy and metalwork in Iberia and the western Mediterranean, focusing on the metal-using phase known as ‘Chalcolithic’. After providing a background on the Iberian peninsula and its potential importance for early meta... Read More about Early metallurgy in Iberia and the western Mediterranean.

The spirit of the sword and spear (2013)
Journal Article
Pearce, M. (2013). The spirit of the sword and spear. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 23(1), https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774313000048

From the Norse sagas or the Arthurian cycles, we are used to the concept that the warrior’s weapon has an identity, a name. In this article I shall ask whether some prehistoric weapons also had an identity. Using case studies of La Tène swords, early... Read More about The spirit of the sword and spear.