Lead isotopic compositions link copper axes from Kietrz (Poland, 3500–3350 BC) to Slovak and Balkan copper mines

Chemical and lead isotope analyses aided by metallographic examination of copper axes found at the Late Neolithic settlement of Kietrz in southwestern Poland provide new evidence for the origin of copper and metal trade routes in the region. Our results indicate that metal used for the axes could be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchaeometry Vol. 66; no. 4; pp. 840 - 859
Main Authors Kowalski, Łukasz, Stos‐Gale, Zofia Anna, Adamczak, Kamil, Maas, Roland, Woodhead, Jon, Garbacz‐Klempka, Aldona, Kozicka, Magdalena, Kofel, Dominika, Matuszczyk, Ewa
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2024
Subjects
ancient copper
Archaeology
archaeometallurgy
Arkeologi
Baden
Copper
ED XRF
Late Neolithic
LIA
MC-ICP-MS
metal hoarding
Mines
Poland
TRB
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Summary:Chemical and lead isotope analyses aided by metallographic examination of copper axes found at the Late Neolithic settlement of Kietrz in southwestern Poland provide new evidence for the origin of copper and metal trade routes in the region. Our results indicate that metal used for the axes could be sourced from copper mines in modern Slovakia, Bulgaria and perhaps Serbia. The evidence from this study confirms that the Funnel Beaker people from Poland became parties to a metal trading network that connected much of continental Europe in the mid‐4th millennium bce and provides a better understanding of how these contacts provided the background for the technological and socio‐economic developments of the Baden era.
ISSN:0003-813X
1475-4754
1475-4754
DOI:10.1111/arcm.12944