Captación y selección de materias primas en la primera metalurgia del Sureste de la península ibérica

The authors are grateful for the technical and human support provided by SGIker of UPV/EHU and European funding (ERDF and ESF). We are also in debt with Eduardo Galán, Ruth Maicas and Carmen Cacho, curators of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid) for facilitating the sampling and study of metal objects as well as with Ignacio Soriano Llopis for his help on the selection and sampling of the Palmela points, with Massimo Chiaradia who performed the analyses of the Palmela points at the Department of Earth Sciences (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and with Óscar García Vuelta for his pictures of some assemblages. We also appreciate and the careful work of editing and style of the TP edit…

Un nouvel assemblage de haches-lingots dans la vallée du Rhône : le dépôt de Loyettes (Ain)

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Sites, territoires et réseaux des communautés néolithiques

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Huit objets de cuivre et de bronze du piémont pyrénéen oriental : analyse croisée typologique et métallique

Cet article porte sur huit pièces à base de cuivre – deux haches plates et six poignards – provenant de la zone sous-pyrénéenne orientale (Corbières, Haute Vallée de l’Aude, Pays d’OImes), dans les départements de l’Aude et de l’Ariège de l’Est (région de Lavelanet). Elles sont décrites et replacées dans leur contexte typochronologique, alors que les aspects technoéconomiques sont envisagés via la composition métallique (composition élémentaire et rapports isotopiques du plomb). Cinq objets en cuivre – deux haches et trois poignards – sont attribués au Chalcolithique. L’une des haches se rapproche des types nord-ibériques et son importation depuis cette région est suggérée par les analyses …

The end of the Neolithic in Western Switzerland

Une sépulture collective de la fin du Néolithique au cœur du district minier de Cabrières-Péret (Hérault) : la grotte du Rhinocéros 4

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Lead provenance for medieval decorated tile glazes from Brittany and Anjou (13th-14th c.)

International audience; Medieval pavements composed of lead-glazed tiles decorated with a variety of techniques continue to inspire questions about the organisation of glaze manufacture, and the supply and origin of lead materials. The tiles analysed in this study are from Suscinio I (a 13th-century pavement) and Suscinio II (a 14th-century pavement), at the Château of Suscinio in Brittany, and also from the 14th-century pavement at the fortified manor house in Brain-sur-Allonnes, Anjou. Lead isotope analysis (LIA) was used to examine samples from 44 lead-glazed tiles, 29 of which are transparent, while 15 are tin-opacified (an exogenous technique in these regions during this period). Five …

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Copper quality and sources in Middle Bronze Age I Byblos and Tell Arqa (Lebanon)

Abstract Forty-four Middle Bronze Age I weapons discovered at the sites of Byblos and Tell Arqa in Lebanon were investigated in order to study their copper quality and provenance. The evaluation of copper qualities is based on quantifying permanent inclusions such as copper sulfide and lead globules. The provenance of copper was studied using lead isotope analyses. For further discrimination between copper groups and sources elemental analyses by PIXE were performed on some of the weapons investigated. The results revealed two copper groups that could be qualified as “dirty” copper and “clean” copper. The former was used in most of the weapon types whereas the latter was reserved for items …

Elemental analysis of glass samples from the settlement and the glass workshop of Augst/Kaiseraugst

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Tracking archaeological and historical mines using mineral prospectivity mapping.

13 pages; International audience; The present study proposes a technological transfer from modern mining prospection to the field of archaeology, providing a methodology to facilitate the discovery of ancient mining sites. This method takes advantage of the thousands of geochemical analyses of streambed sediments, performed by national geological surveys to inventory mineral substances. In order to delineate geochemical anomalies, the datasets are treated following two different approaches: Exploratory Data Analysis and a fractal-based method often recognised as more powerful. Mineral prospectivity maps are then obtained by combining the results with a geographical information system. The s…

Les occupations de plein air du Néolithique final et du Bronze ancien de La Cavalade à Montpellier (Hérault)

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La chaîne opératoire des productions métalliques dans les ateliers de Talant « La Peute Combe » (Côte d’Or).

International audience; Le site de Talant est un village à vocation artisanale du Ve siècle av. J. C. dont l’activité principale est basée sur la fabrication de petit objets en fer et en bronze. Au centre du site, la présence d’un atelier polymétallique, dont les niveaux de sol sont conservés, reste une découverte exceptionnelle pour la période. La mise en place d’un SIG sur les déchets métalliques (culots de forges, scories, barres, chutes …) a permis d’identifier trois zones de travail grâce aux différentes concentrations de mobilier.L’étude interdisciplinaire (macroscopie et microscopie) sur la métallurgie du fer s’est concentrée sur les déchets tant métalliques que scorifiés. Elle a per…

Copper supply during the Final Neolithic at the Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames site (Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

The Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames stratified site in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, contains several occupations that span the Late through Final Neolithic, including the Horgen, Lüscherz, and Auvernier-Cordé periods. As part of a study on prehistoric metallurgy in western Switzerland, we compare the lead isotope ratios (multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer) and elemental compositions (instrumental neutron activation analysis) of the site's numerous copper finds to a database of corresponding measurements for copper ores throughout Europe. The results show a considerable variation in copper compositions present at the site, suggesting complex economic relationships and multip…

Raw material procurement and selection in Southeast Iberia’s early metallurgy

The role of metallurgy in the Copper Age communities of the Iberian Southeast is a recurrent question of archaeo­logical research in western Europe. Based on lead isotope and trace element analyses of archaeometallurgical remains, this paper addresses the territorial organisation of metallur­gical production during the Copper Age (3100-2200 cal BC) in the Vera Basin (Almería, Spain), the region with the ear­liest metallurgical evidence in western Europe. This paper comprises the study of materials from the three main settle­ments with metallurgical activity in the area (Las Pilas, San­ta Bárbara and Almizaraque), as well as some metal objects from these and other sites (La Encantada I, Loma…

Où en est-on dans les recherches sur le Campaniforme?

Cet article présente les recherches récentes sur le Campaniforme de l'Europe, recherches menées au sein du Laboratoire d'archéologie préhistorique et anthropologie de l'Institut Forel - sciences de la Terre et de l'environnement - de l'Université de Genève.

Nouveau regard sur le Bronze ancien en Bourgogne à la lumière de l’étude d’une hache récemment découverte en forêt d’Étaules (21)

In 2010, in doubtful circumstances, a bronze axe blade was fortuitously discovered in the forest of Étaules. The artefact has been studied as detailed as possible in order to suggest its former cultural context, thus allowing to give a brief review of the Early Bronze Age in Burgundy. This flanged axe, close to the Neyruz type, can be attributed to the mid-Early Bronze Age. In an excellent state of preservation, it was carefully prepared after having been cast in a split mould; although worn by use, it remains fully functional. Despite the lack of the archaeological context at the precise place where it was discovered, its presence strengthens the idea of a developed human occupation in Bur…

The Copper-based Artefacts from Sion/Petit-Chasseur (Valais, Switzerland) during the Late Neolithic, the Bell Beaker Period and the Early Bronze Age (3200–1550 BC)

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Crémations et monument funéraire campaniformes à Genlis « le Nicolot » (Côte-d'Or, France)

The building of the high-speed rail track linking the Rhine to the Rhone led to the discovery of two Bell Beaker burials in an Iron Age cemetery located in the plain to the east of Dijon. The Tilles plain is an alluvial environment, shaped by the valleys of the Tille and the Ouche and populated since Late Prehistory, particularly during the Bell Beaker and Early Bronze periods, which have yielded settlements located on the rivers. These burials are the first funerary features discovered in the area.The two Bell Beaker cremation burials excavated at Genlis "le Nicolot" are remarkable, as still too little is known of the funerary practices of the period in the east of France and in particular…

Jenseits von Form und Typ : Ergebisse der Archäometallurgischen Untersuchungen der Metallfunde von Prêles, Les Combettes

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La grotte de l'Eremita au Monte Fenera (Vercelli, Italie) : nouvelles découvertes du Bronze moyen

Située au coeur du massif calcaire du Monte Fenera dans le Piémont italien, la grotte de l'Eremita, appelée également Tana dell'Armittu, fait l'objet d'une intervention archéologique menée par l'Université de Genève (direction M. Besse). Suite à des sondages effectués en 2012 lors desquels furent mises au jour, entre autres, des perles spiralées et une épingle en bronze, une fouille programmée a été organisée dès 2013. Notre contribution présente les données de terrains de l'année 2013. La fouille archéologique s'est déroulée avec les étudiants en archéologie, l'aspect didactique - auquel nous sommes fermement attachés - étant un des objectifs de cette fouille.

Copper quality and provenance in Middle Bronze Age I Byblos and Tell Arqa (Lebanon)

Les objets métalliques du dolmen de Saint-Eugène: nouvelles analyses géochimiques

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