Marianne Mödlinger

Manufacture of Eastern European decorative tin–bronze discs from twelfth century BC

During the European Bronze Age, flat discs with a variety of decorative elements were produced to be used most likely as either decoration attached to clothing or as parts of horse harnesses. The size and decoration differ according to region and period. The discs discussed here were all found in hoards deposited in a rather short period around 1200–1100 BC in Croatia, Bosnia and Austria. They were analysed to obtain information about their composition and manufacture, both of which may have changed in relation to increasing distance from the centre of distribution or supposed production as a result of copying, or might not have changed significantly if the discs were imported.

Non-invasive PGAA, PIXE and ToF-ND analyses on Hungarian Bronze Age defensive armour

Non-invasive, archaeometric analyses on selected Hungarian Bronze Age defensive armour is presented here: three greaves, three helmets two shields as well as one vessel fragment were analysed with PIXE, PGAA and TOF-ND. The detected alloy elemental and phase composition as well as its intergranular or spatial concentration distribution reveals important insights into the alloys used and the manufacturing techniques applied c. 1200–950 BC, and allows to reconstruct the production techniques used during the Late Bronze Age.

Arsenic loss during metallurgical processing of arsenical bronze

The chemical composition of ancient copper-based metal changes over time due to repetitive recycling and mixing of old metal. Prehistoric copper usually contains impurities from the copper ores themselves, and some have been used as evidence of anthropomorphically induced chemical change. Research into these changes has historically relied upon the assumption of element loss linearity, which is highly misleading and in fact varies with a multitude of factors. To illustrate the complexity of such losses for prehistoric alloys, we have selected arsenical bronze (Cu-As alloys) for study. The mass loss of several Cu-As-alloys under reducing atmosphere was measured by DTA/TGA. From our comparison of the experimental results to thermodynamic calculations and literature data, it was unclear whether weight losses were solely caused by the elemental loss of arsenic. However, a prolonged time temperature-cycling run demonstrated that mainly arsenic volatilizes; hence, the non-linear mass loss from the alloy can be directly attributed to arsenic.

Middle Bronze Age Metal Artefacts and Metallurgical Practices at the Sites of Tell Arqa, Mougharet el-Hourryieh, Yanouh and Khariji in Lebanon

Abstract The aim of this paper is to provide new data on metallurgical activity in Lebanon during the Early Bronze Age IV and the Middle Bronze Age by examining metal artefacts discovered at the sites of Tell Arqa, Mougharet el-Hourryieh, Yanouh and Khariji. Even though some particularities were observed at each site, the results show a common metallurgical tradition throughout the Levant manifested by the use of similar copper base alloy recipes and forming techniques. This work also provides the first data on the composition of silver and its alloys during the Middle Bronze Age in Lebanon.

Felduntersuchungen zur frühen Kupfermetallurgie im Großen Kaukasus: ein Vorbericht

Zusammenfassung: Im Zuge einer von der Fritz Thyssen Stiftung unterstützten Feldbegehung wurden im August 2016 in Ostgeorgien (Provinz Kachetien) die Täler der vom Großen Kaukasus in den Alazani entwässernden Nebenflüsse auf Kupfererzvorkommen, deren Abbau und etwaiger Weiterverarbeitung untersucht und soweit möglich chronologisch eingeordnet. Dabei konnten frühere Beobachtungen zum Vorkommen von Kupfererzen zum Teil bestätigt und um neue Funde erweitert werden. Ziel der Untersuchungen ist die Sammlung von Grundlagen für eine kritische Auseinandersetzung zur wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung und dem Einfluss der Südkaukasusregion in der Bronzezeit. An den gefundenen Kupfererzen sowie einigen spätbronzezeitlichen Dolchen aus Koban und Chmi, Nordossetien-Alanien, Russische Föderation, wurden anschließend Bleiisotopenanalysen durchgeführt, um die Signaturen miteinander zu vergleichen und schließlich Antworten zu einer möglichen Nutzung lokaler Rohstoffquellen zu finden.