Journal ArticleDOI
A new interpretative approach to the chemistry of copper-alloy objects: source, recycling and technology
Peter Bray,A. M. Pollard +1 more
TLDR
The metal composition of bronze alloys has been routinely examined as a means of inferring the source of the ore as discussed by the authors. But bronze is recycled, and the quantity of some components, such as arsenic, is depleted every time the alloy is melted down.Abstract:
The metal composition of bronze alloys has been routinely examined as a means of inferring the source of the ore. But bronze is recycled, and the quantity of some components, such as arsenic, is depleted every time the alloy is melted down. Since the Early Bronze Age of the British Isles was largely supplied from a single mine on Ross Island, Co. Kerry, tracking arsenic content shows the number of re-melts and this gives the object a biography and a social context. Applying this ingenious new procedure to their large database, the authors also winkle out other sources of supply and new insights about the technology involved.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Moving metals II: provenancing Scandinavian Bronze Age artefacts by lead isotope and elemental analyses
Johan Ling,Zophia Stos-Gale,Lena Grandin,Kjell Billström,Eva Hjärthner-Holdar,Per-Olof Persson +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a detailed interpretation of lead isotope and chemical data with the aim to identify the ore sources from which these metals originated is presented. But the interpretation of these analytical data is limited to the Nordic Bronze Age.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Provenance, Use, and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The State of Debate
Miljana Radivojević,Miljana Radivojević,Benjamin W. Roberts,Ernst Pernicka,Zofia Stos-Gale,Marcos Martinón-Torres,Marcos Martinón-Torres,Thilo Rehren,Thilo Rehren,Peter Bray,Dirk Brandherm,Johan Ling,Jianjun Mei,Helle Vandkilde,Kristian Kristiansen,Stephen Shennan,Cyprian Broodbank +16 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors bring together the sometimes-diverging views of several research groups on these topics in an attempt to find common ground and set out the major directions of the debate, for the benefit of future research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Form and flow: the ‘karmic cycle’ of copper
TL;DR: In this paper, an empirical model of metal flow is proposed, where objects are seen as snapshots of a wider metal stream; their final scientific characterisation including echoes of their previous forms and contexts.
MonographDOI
Beyond Provenance : New Approaches to Interpreting the Chemistry of Archaeological Copper Alloys
TL;DR: Beyond Provenance as discussed by the authors considers the trace element composition of the metal, the alloying elements, and the lead isotopic composition, showing how a combination of these aspects, along with archaeological context and typology, can reveal much more about the life history of such artefacts, expanding considerably upon the rather limited ambition of knowing where the ore was extracted.
Journal ArticleDOI
More questions than answers: the Southeast Asian Lead Isotope Project 2009–2012
Thomas Oliver Pryce,Sandrine Baron,Bérénice Bellina,Peter Bellwood,Nigel Chang,Pranab Chattopadhyay,Eusebio Z. Dizon,Ian Glover,Elizabeth G. Hamilton,Charles Higham,Aung Aung Kyaw,Vin Laychour,Surapol Natapintu,Viet Nguyen,Jean-Pierre Pautreau,Ernst Pernicka,Vincent C. Pigott,Mark Pollard,Christophe Pottier,Andreas Reinecke,Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy,Viengkeo Souksavatdy,Joyce C. White +22 more
TL;DR: The results of the Southeast Asian Lead Isotope Project's 2009-2012 research campaign as mentioned in this paper were used to empirically reconstruct regional metal exchange networks and their attendant social interactions c. 1000 BC-c. 500 AD.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The faerie smith meets the bronze industry: Magic versus science in the interpretation of prehistoric metal‐making
Paul Budd,Timothy Taylor +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the question of the emergence and development of copper and iron metallurgy in Eurasia in relation to a historical debate within archaeology and archaeometallurgy concerning appropriate technological scales and social organizational models.
Journal ArticleDOI
The determination of lead isotope ratios by multiple collector ICP-MS: A case study of early Bronze age artefacts and their possible relation with ore deposits of the Erzgebirge
TL;DR: In this paper, lead isotope analyses of Early Bronze Age metal artefacts from the Aunjetitz (Unetice) culture in central Germany and Bohemia were determined in order to find out whether they could be related to ore sources of the Erzgebirge.
Journal ArticleDOI
An Independent Chronology for British Bronze Age Metalwork: The Results of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Programme
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present and analyse 46 new radiocarbon measurements undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit with the aim of critically evaluating the existing chronology for Bronze Age metalwork.
Journal Article
Chronology and periodisation in the British Bronze Age
TL;DR: In this article, a synthese des donnees chronologiques actuelles relatives a l'Age du Bronze britannique and, dans une moindre mesure, a l's Age du Bronze irlandais is proposed.
Journal ArticleDOI
The working of copper-arsenic alloys in the Early Bronze Age and the effect on the determination of provenance.
Hugh McKerrell,R. F. Tylecote +1 more
TL;DR: The earliest copper alloy of the British Bronze Age is arsenical copper, a material relatively shortlived when compared with the succeeding tin bronze but of no little importance when tracing the stages and progress of prehistoric metal working as mentioned in this paper.