Technology and Risk - BRonze age hoaRdsasaFoRmoF Risk managemenT

Bronze Age hoards have been a prominent feature of archaeological research for over one hundred years and as such atopic of different interpretations. Focus has been and is often put on the question whether profane or cultic reasons and intentions should be seen behind the depositions. This paper aims to show that the hoarding practice can also clearly be seen as a form of risk management and an expression of coping with risks, whether those are encountered on an everyday level or as selective actual threats. The range of potential risks spans from maybe predominantly "eco-nomic" to also significantly "metaphysical" ones. The paper touches on the role of bronze as a valuable material and a significant form of property. While the raw metal could be remelted and used for many purposes, artefacts in object form carried an individual and symbolic value and meaning. This paper is based on the preliminary analysis of the Late Bronze Age/Urnfield hoards Attersee I - IV excavated at Buchberg im Attergau in Austria as part of the BeLaVi - project in 2019. The deposition of these hoards likely represents a protection of goods connected to the experience of a"historical" threat. This paper will present the case study, the composition and nature of the hoards, and discusses and contextualises the ideas involved.