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Selection of characteristic axe types sampled to illustrate the typo-chronological development of axes in the Eastern Alps from BA A1 to Ha C1-D2 (types from upper left to bottom right: Salez A, Langquaid II/Koblach, Absatzbeil mit gedrungen herzförmiger Rast, Freudenberg/Elixhausen, Freudenberg/Retz, Lappenbeil mit herabgezogenen Lappen, Breites mittelständiges Lappenbeil, Winkel-und bogenverziertes Tüllenbeil, Hallstatt). For corresponding data see Tab. 1, for corresponding find spots see Fig. 1. Red crosses mark the sampling positions if the objects have been sampled within the DACH-project.
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The exploitation of copper deposits in the mountainous areas of the Alps gained enormous economic importance particularly in the 2nd and 1st millennium B.C., as Alpine copper began to play a central role in the metal supply of Europe. This volume summarises the current state of research on prehistoric Alpine copper exploitation from the western and...
Citations
Charcoal is a common material for radiocarbon dating and is underestimated as an object of dendrochronological analysis – a method that allows dating natural and historical-archaeological events with an accuracy of up to a year. The new approach to charcoal sample preparation developed by the authors removes previously existing restrictions on the use of this fragile material in dendrochronological studies and allows it to be used as an effective source of information in paleoecology, paleoclimatology, paleogeography and archaeology. Applying this approach, a 377-year tree-ring chronology was constructed using archaeological coals from ancient iron-smelting furnaces in the Chuya-Kurai ferrous metallurgy province of the Russian Altai. This is the first tree-ring chronology of charcoal in Russia and the longest in the world dendrochronological practice. Its further analysis will provide new information about the nature and archaeological events of the high mountain region located in the center of Eurasia.
The burial ground at Mitterkirchen belongs to the Early Iron Age, respectively, to the Hallstatt culture. A remarkable find from Mitterkirchen is approximately 3,000 buttons that were attached to a magnificent coat. Five of these buttons were provided for nondestructive material examinations using computed tomography (CT). Two of these buttons could be examined by metallography, light optical microscope (LOM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray fluorescence examination (XRF). Based on the results of the investigation, it can be assumed that the bronze buttons were manufactured by a casting process. The bronze alloys are very different, which suggests the use of various starting materials including recycled copper alloys. The microstructure of the bronzes is uniform and, depending on their compositions, contains precipitates like Pb and the intermetallic phase Cu 41 Sn 11 . The corrosion layers exhibit a pronounced Sn enrichment and contain malachite.
A Hallstatt period burial mound (tumulus) in Schandorf, Burgenland, Austria, was opened and archaeologically investigated in 2021. Not only numerous pottery fragments, but also some garment buttons were found, one of which was provided for metallographic examinations, aiming at identifying the method of manufacture: soldering, riveting, casting? Prior to the metallographic examinations, micro-computed tomography (μm CT) was carried out at a resolution of 5 μm. The Figures show that large areas are oxidized. It was, however, found that metallic portions still existed. The overall appearance suggests investment casting as the manufacturing method. Analytical measurements revealed that the material is tin bronze. Despite severe corrosion, the metallographic sections still exhibit a clearly recognizable cast structure. There are presumably two types of corrosion: first, high temperature corrosion, which resulted in the formation of bronze oxides in the grain boundary areas during the cremation, and, second, corrosion in an aqueous environment, during which malachite formed.
So far, no comparable studies can be found in the literature.
The Bronze Age hoard from Drassburg contains among other objects cast cakes, sickles, spout axes and fragments of these. Ten copper alloy samples were examined by metallography. The high Pb content of three cast cakes indicates that Pb or Pb ores were intentionally added to the metallic copper. Two cast cakes contain small amounts of Pb and probably copper from the primary production. One cast cake is a Sn bronze. The sickle and socket axe fragments are Sn bronze with different composition. Most microstructures show dendritic solidification, and sometimes, deformation structures are observed. It can be assumed that the copper alloys of the Drassburg hoard were used for recycling. If one considers the quite different alloy compositions, it is impossible to trace the copper ore sources using Pb isotopy or trace element analysis. This applies to the present copper alloys as well as to objects made from recycled material.
Resources play a decisive role in social transformation processes as they are entangled in manifold ways in the practical and cognitive constructions of societies. Materialized resources can therefore be taken as affordances for individuals and societies that allow integrating their potential role in transformative societal processes. History and archaeology have been dealing with ancient mines and production modes right from the beginnings. In the nineteenth century, archaeology also started to engage in ancient mines and quarries, indeed often with the help of miners and mining engineers. Mining was considered by states and elites a necessary but also a prestigious part of a production that should contribute to the economic wellbeing of a realm, of a state, or an elite household. Many regions of the world were cultivated very early on and the exploitation of raw materials was a major part of their success as farmers.
The Drassburg Bronze Age hoard find (approx. 25 kg) also comprises some sickles and sickle fragments. One of these sickle fragments was provided for metallographic examinations. A XRF analysis revealed 94.5 wt.% Cu, 4.31 wt.% Sn, 0.61 wt.% Pb, and 0.12 wt.% S in the alloy. It can therefore be attributed to tin bronzes.
The material has a uniform dendritic microstructure. Higher concentrations of Sn, S, and Pb were measured in the interdendritic areas. This suggests a precipitation of the phases Pb and Cu2S from the residual melt. Klemm II etching also revealed the dendritic areas which exhibited different orientations.
Deformations were observed in thin edge areas of the sickle fragments. They were introduced in the course of mechanical postprocessing of the bronze or during its use.
The surface of the sickle exhibits a patina with a layered structure and a thickness of up to 500 μm. The Sn contents measured in the outer layers are somewhat higher than in the inner layers.
Prehistoric mines are often too large and too deep for conventional archaeological excavations. Non‐destructive and minimally invasive methods of prospection can help to overcome these limits. Our case study of a Late Bronze Age opencast mine (ca. 1050 to 780 BC) shows the potential of geophysical prospection methods combined with core drillings. For the reconstruction of this mine, we combined electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) tomography, seismic refraction tomography (SRT) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The geophysical data were collected based on an orthogonal grid of 10 longitudinal and transverse profiles, laid out over an area of ~330 × 300 m. The profiles allowed a three‐dimensional interpolation of the geological units, the mining dumps, the mining areas and the residual mineralization. Additionally, two deep cores were drilled to ground‐truth the geophysical prospection results. They provided information about the stratification at intersections of the measurement grid, and this proved crucial for validating the interpreted geophysical profiles. Each geophysical method applied provided different information for the reconstruction of the site: the electrical resistivity tomography offered the best clues as to the locations of the geological units and the dumps, the seismic refraction tomography visualized the transition between the dump or backfill layers and the underlying bedrock, and the IP measurements revealed residual mineralization. The georadar measurements, on the other hand, did not contribute to the interpretation owing to the limited depth of penetration. Based on the combination of borehole and geophysical data, it was possible to develop a hypothetical model of an open‐pit mine for copper ore that developed in three phases (mines A–C) during the Late Bronze Age. Without the control provided by the core drillings, one of the mining areas (mine A) could not have been correctly identified in the geophysical prospections.
The inner Alpine Oberhalbstein valley has long been known as a Bronze Age settlement chamber and prehistoric mining landscape. Systematic mining-archaeological investigations have now brought to light several prehistoric mines and almost 90 smelting sites. Extensive series of absolute dates suggest that copper production occurred in two main phases: a Late Bronze Age phase (11th century BC) and an Early Iron Age phase (7th century BC). In addition to the summary presentation of the mining archaeological findings, the present study puts a special focus on the detailed decoding of the processing technology. Based on typological, morphological and archaeometric investigations of smelting slag as well as ore analyses, the process chain is traced, from the mining of the ore via the processing, only traces of which are known as of yet, to the smelting. The publication contains an extensive appendix of research data.
In this paper we present the first results of an interdisciplinary research project focused on Late Bronze Age metallurgy in the western and central Balkans. The comprehensive chemical and lead isotope analysis, and a strict consideration of archaeological criteria, has provided a deeper insight into supra regional metal exchange networks between the 14th and 9th century BC in this part of Europe. Particularly interesting and surprising are results regarding the provenance of raw materials for copper production, which have a chemical composition and lead isotope ratios that closely correspond to ore deposits in the southern Alps (North Italy). Based on the examination of 57 objects of different functions, chronology and distribution, it becomes apparent that copper from the southern Alps was almost an omnipresent raw material in the territories of the western and central Balkans with only a few finds from North Macedonia to indicate alternative sources. The analyses demonstrate that the reuse of fahlore-based copper is attested for the first time in the regions under study. The remarkable fact that other archaeological parameters do not indicate such an intensive connection between the Balkan area and Northern Italy raises a number of questions. The sustained and long-lasting networks of raw material procurement stand in contrast to the expected cultural interaction between metal producing and metal consuming prehistoric societies. The results of this work also highlight the currently underestimated role of the southern Alps as one of the main copper producing areas in Bronze Age Europe, and demonstrate for the first time that the region of western and central Balkans was one of the major recipients.
This paper presents a study on copper production and distribution in Lower Austria’s southeastern region during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1350–800 BC), with the focal point being the chemistry and isotopic character of artifacts from a small copper mining site at Prigglitz-Gasteil on the Eastern Alps’ easternmost fringe. Ores, casting cakes, and select objects from the Late Bronze Age mining site at Prigglitz-Gasteil, Lower-Austria, and within 15 km of its surroundings, were chemically and isotopically analysed using XRF, NAA, and MC-ICPMS. The importance of Prigglitz-Gasteil as a local mining and metal processing center is evaluated based on the produced data, and the distribution and sourcing of copper-producing materials found at the site are discussed. Special attention is paid to the mixing of scrap and source materials early in the metal production process. The most salient discussions focus on the variability of the chemistry and Pb isotopic ratios of the studied objects, which seem to constitute a multitude of source materials, unlike the pure chalcopyrite-source copper produced from the Prigglitz-Gasteil mine itself. The analytical data suggests that copper alloys were mainly imported from materials originating in the Slovakian Ore Mountains, which were subsequently mixed/recycled with relatively pure locally produced copper. The purity of the copper from Prigglitz-Gasteil was fortuitous in identifying imported copper that contained measurable amounts of Pb and other chemically distinct characteristics. The chaîne opératoire of metal production at the site is mentioned; however, it is clear that additional information on the region’s geochemistry is required before any finite conclusions on the ore-to-metal production can be made.
