Thinking outside the cist: interpreting an unique artefact assemblage from an Early Bronze Age burial on the Isle of Man

Recent analysis of cremated human remains from an Early Bronze Age cist at Staarvey Farm, Isle of Man, discovered a rare bone knife pommel and 20 other bone objects. This assemblage gives us a glimpse of the importance of bone ornaments and artefact fittings in the Early Bronze Age. The article analyses the Staarvey burial and comparable assemblages, identifying the deployment of knife pommels in central Britain in ways which contrast with their use in southern England. It explores regional interaction in the Early Bronze Age of the British and Irish Isles through a multi-dimensional, relational typological approach to burial assemblages.