The Spread of Metalworking Products and Technologies in the Carpathian Basin Between 5000 and 3000 BCE
NKFI FK 124260
Project Leader
Zsuzsanna Siklósi
Participants
Bernadett Bajnóczi (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute of Geology and Geochemistry)
Viktória Mozgai (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Institute of Geology and Geochemistry)
Zsuzsanna M. Virág (Budapest History Museum)
Collaborating Researchers
Mária Bondár (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Centre for Humanities, Institute of Archaeology)
Anett Osztás (Eötvös Loránd Research Network, Centre for Humanities, Institute of Archaeology)
Igor M. Villa (Bern University)
Time
2017-2022
Period
Prehistoric Period, Copper Age
In this research project, we analyze in detail how the first metal objects, copper ornaments, spread across the territory of present-day Hungary from their appearance in the Neolithic period until the end of the Copper Age, and what complex social processes underpinned this technological diffusion of copper objects and metalworking knowledge. To achieve this, we conduct archaeometric and radiocarbon analyses, which we evaluate together with archaeological data.
Lead isotope analysis of copper objects, combined with chemical composition measurements, allows us to determine the geographic origin of the raw materials used in these objects. This way, we can localize the geographic area with which the communities using these objects had direct or indirect contact. These costly analyses have so far been missing from the early periods of metalworking, making it impossible until now to interpret the origin of copper finds independently from archaeological interpretation.
During the examined period, we observe numerous significant changes, ranging from small copper ornaments to the peak of Copper Age metalworking in the Early Copper Age, through the technological developments of the Middle Copper Age, and finally to the drastically declining metalworking activities of the Late Copper Age. Many explanations have been proposed for these changes, which we aim to test through the measurements conducted in this project.
The raw material sources, the typology, and chronology of copper artifacts in the Carpathian Basin are closely connected through interregional social networks linking Southeast and Central Europe. In this context, we investigate how possible changes in raw material sources influenced the development of metalworking and what shifting social interactions may have underpinned these processes.
Where did the raw materials used for the earliest copper finds originate, and what about those found at the end of the Middle Copper Age in Transdanubia and the Great Hungarian Plain, which are considered the first traces of local metalworking?
Is there a correlation between typological changes in copper artifacts and the use of new raw material sources? Are the typological differences between early and middle Copper Age copper artifacts in Transdanubia and the Great Plain related to potentially different sources? Are there differences between the raw material sources used during the Middle and Late Copper Ages? Could this have played a role in the drastic decrease of copper finds at the end of the Middle Copper Age?
We complement the series of lead isotope and chemical composition analyses with a set of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) measurements conducted on samples obtained through a complex sampling strategy from well-documented contexts. This enables us to reassess the typological system that places copper finds within the same chronological framework, spanning from the Balkans through the Carpathian Basin to Central Europe.
Beyond the examination of archaeological artifacts, another essential goal of the research project is to analyze potential geological copper raw material sources within Hungary. Until now, no such studies have been conducted, although these are crucial for researching metalworking in later periods as well. With these results, we can test the idea that the metal wealth of the Copper Age Carpathian Basin can be explained by the use of local sources—for example, the proposed origin of some Late Neolithic copper artifacts from Southeast Transdanubia being the Mecsek region.
As a result of the project, we hope to shed new light on the social connections underlying the spread of metalworking products and technologies, and to find evidence to support or refute common assumptions in the study of Carpathian Basin metalworking.
Acknowledgements:
This research is supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (NKFI FK 124260).