Early Copper Metallurgy

(German article with English abstract and figure captions)
During the summer of 2018, the German Mining Museum Bochum (DBM) and the Roman-Germanic Central Museum (RGZM) conducted copper ore smelting experiments at the Laboratory for Experimental Archaeology (LEA), RGZM in Mayen, Germany. The smelting experiments not only reconstructed a 4.000 year old smelting process, but also produced material that could then be used for scientific analysis. During the course of the experiments, copper metal was successfully produced. For each experiment, a detailed description of the set up and how they were carried out is given.
The goal of the project, which is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), is to improve the chemical-physical isotope measurement method used to determine the origin of raw materials for metal objects. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine whether and how copper isotope ratios change during the course of the high-temperature process. Following the experiments, the copper metal obtained will be used to investigate
whether the copper isotope composition is altered by the physical and chemical processes during copper production.

This is the first publication of a new hoard of heavy copper tools (22 pcs.) which was found by chance near the village of Polkovnik Taslakovo, municipality of Dulovo, region of Silistra. They belong to two main typological groups-flat axes (18 pcs.) and axes-hammers (4 pcs.). They are made of alloy with a high content of copper which was cast into molds and their total weight is 11.629 kg. The collective hoard is the first and biggest one found, even if found by chance in the NorthEastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. On the basis of analogues its date may be defined to be in the late Chalcolithic and the second/third phase of the cultural complex Kodjadermen-Gumelnița-Karanovo VI (KGK VI). Its location is in a region which is in the periphery of intense long-lasting populating and cultural processes in the area of KGK VI. In view of the intensely spread similar hoards in the Black sea area it may not be excluded for the copper axes to be manufactured in local metal working centres (Varna, Durankulak, Sozopol), then prepared and sent for distribution into the internal part of the Balkan Peninsula.

LACKO, Miroslav. Projekt huty v Bystrom Potoku pri Smolníku z roku 1746 - príklad strategického rozhodovania v kameralistickom podnikaní  [Project of Smelting Plant in Bystrý Potok near Smolník - an Example of Strategic Decision Making in Cameralistic Entrepreneurship]. In: Z dějin hutnictví 43 - Rozpravy Národního technického muzea v Praze 224 (2015), pp. 85-102. ISSN 0139-9810. ISBN 978-80-7037-248-7.

The chemical compositions of the copper alloy artifacts from the Middle Senegal Valley were of paramount interest in the overall examination of these specimens. Determining whether these objects were of brass (copper and zinc alloy), bronze (copper and tin alloy), or some other copper-based alloy could suggest whether they originated from trans-Saharan commerce or from some nonlocal source. Alternatively, if the artifacts were of pure or arsenical copper, we could explore their connections to local or regional sub-Saharan sources. Following introductory and methodological sections, and presentation of the chemical analysis results, our discussion will include a synthesis of the Middle Senegal Valley data as well as a comparison with other applicable chemical composition data from the region. Finally, we conclude with interpretations of data and presented information.

During the excavations in 1983-1985 carried-out by
Sławomir Jastrzębski on Site 1C in Gródek, Hrubieszów
district, 44 settlement structures of the Funnel Beaker
culture and also an ditch and a pit of the Lublin-Volhynia
culture were discovered. There was also revealed a few
pottery concentrations linked with the Funnel Beaker
culture and potsherds of the Tripolye culture. Samples
of organic material from 9 Funnel Beaker structures
and the ditch of the Lublin-Volhynia culture gave 12
radiocarbon dates. The paper presents assemblages of
artifacts from Neolithic structure, taking into account
their chronology.

This paper examines the debate concerning the spread
of early copper mining and metallurgy in Europe, in terms
both of the a priori premises of the scholars concerned
and of the actual archaeological evidence. It discusses
the development of the diffusionist paradigm exemplified
by Childe and Wertime, who argued for a single origin
for metallurgical knowledge and practice in the Near
East, and the challenge from Renfrew’s model of multiple
centres of development of copper metallurgy (the
Near East, the Balkans and Iberia). Specifically, it critiques
the neo-diffusionist model recently proposed by
Roberts, Thornton and Pigott (2009), who argue that
metallurgy developed in a single region, in the area of
eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq, from whence it diffused
to other areas.
It is shown that whether or not one agrees with the
premises of the argument put forward by Roberts et al.
(2009), the single origin diffusionist model for copper
metallurgy is unproven on the basis of the available evidence.
For example, copper smelting first appears in
the Balkans (Belovode, Serbia – 5000-4650 cal BC),
Iberia (Cerro Virtud, Almería – 4910-4460 cal BC) and
southeastern Iran (Tal-i Iblis – second half of the 6th /
first half of the 5th millennium cal BC) rather than in
Anatolia or northern Iraq.
The paper also examines the evidence for the earliest
copper mining and metallurgy in Italy and southern
France in the light of this debate, arguing that the pattern
shown by the evidence does not support a simple diffusion
from East to West.
A new model is proposed which posits that information
flowed throughout Eurasia, and that different technological
developments may in fact have first emerged in different
areas.

A large number of copper-based and other metal artifacts in the Paolo Orsi Museum in Siracusa, southeast Sicily, were analyzed to determine their elemental composition and address issues such as the beginnings of alloy technology in Sicily. A small sample of comparative analyses has been carried out at the Luigi Bernabò Brea museum in Lipari. Non-destructive analyses were performed in the museums using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. A Bruker III-SD was used, with settings chosen to focus on major element composition including Cu, Sn, Pb, As, Fe, Ag, Au, Sb, and Zn. Since XRF analyses are only of the surface, multiple spots were tested on each object in order to assess variation due to original casting or other treatment, as well as post-depositional oxidation or contamination.

Copper and Bronze Age artifacts tested include swords and daggers to see whether there may have been intentional alloying with arsenic or tin. Several objects, including a knife, a blade, and a pin, were indeed arsenical copper, while many others were tin bronze. These included several knives and swords, pins, beads, bowls, and a statue of a bull. Some daggers had very high (~ 20%) tin concentrations. Lead was not a significant component for most of the objects tested, including necklaces, pendants, rings, and a fibula. As part of our work, the results are checked to discover the use of conservation chemicals, which may affect the concentrations as well as adding elements such as zinc.

Sicily appears to have introduced metalworking much later than the Italian peninsula and this study can contribute in determining the socioeconomic dynamics at work, particularly regarding the possible introduction of technologies through long-distance exchange. In addition to better understanding ancient technology, the results of our studies will be used for better labeling and description of many objects that are on display in the museum and to complement the modern re-publication of many artifacts discovered over a century ago.