STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF TRACE ELEMENT CONTENT IN NEOLITHIC, ENEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE METAL ARTEFACTS FROM CENTRAL AND SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE

• Authors: Śmigielska Urszula
• Languages of publication: SK

Abstracts

EN

The prehistoric metal artefacts have been at the centre of archaeological research for over a century. Archeometallurgical analysis largely focused on determining the geological origin of metal and its distribution patterns throughout Europe. For this purpose, among others, analysis of the content of trace elements was used. From 1954 to 1974 in Stuttgart, S. Junghans and E. Sangmeister conducted the largest project to study the chemical composition of copper and bronze artefacts. During the study, 22,000 items from almost all parts of Europe were examined, dated mainly from the Eneolithic period to the Middle Bronze Age. In order to perform the statistical analysis, which was the main purpose of this thesis, items from central and south-eastern Europe were selected from the published data set. The main goal is to compare the results of metal composition analysis with the formal classification of metal artefacts. Based on the content of four elements (arsenic, antimony, silver, and nickel), cluster analysis was performed to divide the material under study into groups. It resulted in the determination of 15 groups (and 17 subgroups of group 1 and five of group 2). Each of the groups has been characterised, taking into account the location, dating, cultural context, and typological category of artefacts. They represent production centres based on copper deposits from a given region. Statistical analysis of the content of trace elements provided relevant information on the general origin of the raw material, changes occurring from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, differences and similarities between the metallurgy of archaeological taxonomic units, and the level of metallurgical knowledge in prehistory.

Keywords

EN

BRONZE AGE; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ANALYSIS; METALLURGY; ENEOLITHIC; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; EUROPE

• Publisher: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Archaeological Institute
• Journal: Študijné zvesti
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 69
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 261-284

Contributors

author

Śmigielska Urszula

• Archeologický ústav SAV, v. v. i., Akademická 2, 949 21 Nitra, Slovak Republic

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7553-6200

Identifiers

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31577/szausav.2022.69.15