Tracking the first bronze metallurgists of Western Europe: combined use-wear analysis and X-ray fluorescence synchrotron
- PDF / 9,677,474 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 91 Downloads / 157 Views
(2020) 12:14
ORIGINAL PAPER
Tracking the first bronze metallurgists of Western Europe: combined use-wear analysis and X-ray fluorescence synchrotron spectroscopy of a stone toolkit from Ploneour-Lanvern (Brittany) Caroline Hamon 1 & Solenn Reguer 2 & Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet 3 & Yvan Pailler 4 & Verane Brisotto 5 Received: 26 June 2019 / Accepted: 16 October 2019 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract At the turn of the second millennium BC in Europe, the development of copper and bronze metallurgies stimulated major economic shifts, with the emergence of elites and far-reaching diffusion networks. However, the exact organization, techniques, processes, and equipment employed in this early copper and bronze metallurgy still remain poorly understood. In this context, our aim has been to identify the first stone toolkits used by Early Bronze Age metallurgists on a site in western Brittany (France), a region connected to the so-called Atlantic complex. The combination of use-wear analysis and Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) imaging highlights a correlation between the distribution of diagnostic use-wear traces (smoothing and micropolishes) related to metal ore processing or metal objet shaping and elemental residues of copper and zinc. These results demonstrate the existence of copper ore processing in western Brittany during the Early Bronze Age (2200–1900 BC). They also highlight the diversity of the stone tools involved in metal production. Finally, this comprehensive methodology underlines the potential of functional analysis of macrolithic tools to reveal the existence of metal production. This is particularly relevant for archeological sites where the structures of metallurgical production are barely visible and often unrecognizable and where metallic objects are rare due to their intensive recycling and diffusion. Keywords Early Bronze Age . Stone tools . Use-wear analysis . X-ray fluorescence imaging . Synchrotron source
Introduction The emergence and development of copper and bronze metallurgy is a key step in the evolution of protohistoric societies. At the turn of the second millennium BC in Europe, copper and Early Bronze Age societies were characterized by major economic shifts. Emerging powerful elites enriched themselves by controlling the exploitation of ore sources (copper,
* Caroline Hamon [email protected]
tin, silver, and gold), mastering metal production, and developing extensive diffusion networks. The intensification of long distance exchanges of valuable objects and know-how stimulated the emergence of new cultural complexes. Along the Atlantic coast, the rise of copper alloy metallurgy has been dated to the middle of the third millennium BC, within Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age contexts, two millennia after its emergence in south-eastern Europe
1
CNRS-UMR 8215 Trajectoires, Maison de l’archéologie, 21 allée de l’Université, 92023 Cedex Nanterre, France
2
Synchrotron Soleil, L’Orme des Merisiers Saint-Aubin, 48 91192 Cedex Gif-su
Data Loading...
