Environmental and health effects of early copper metallurgy and mining in the Bronze Age

The last three years of archaeological investigations at the site Ru`ana in Banjsko Polje, in the immediate vicinity of Bor, have provided new evidence regarding the role of non-ferrous metallurgy in the economy of the prehistoric communities of north-eastern Serbia. The remains of metallurgical furnaces and a large amount of metallic slags at two neighbouring sites in the mentioned settlement reveal that locations with many installations for the thermal processing of copper ore existed in the Bronze Age. We believe, judging by the finds of material culture, that metallurgical activities in this area also continued into the Iron Age and, possibly, into the 4th century AD.

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Beginning of the metal age in the central Balkans according to the results of the archeometallurgy

Journal of Mining and Metallurgy Section B Metallurgy ◽

10.2298/jmmb0902143j ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 143-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

B. Jovanovic

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Alluvial Deposits ◽

Serial Production ◽

Gradual Development ◽

Copper Mines ◽

Copper Metallurgy ◽

Metal Age ◽

The Bronze Age

The gradual development of the primary copper metallurgy in Balkans starts with production of small jewelry pieces and ends with the serial production of massive tools and weapons. It is confirmed that this metallurgy depended on the contemporary mining, i.e. the available sources of the raw materials. It is also corroborated by the discovery of two Early Eneolithic copper mines: Rudna Glava in Eastern Serbia and Ai-Bunar in Bulgaria /first half and the middle of the 5th millennium BC/. These mines are also the evidence for the local exploitation of the carbonate copper minerals - malachite and azurite. The technology employed is close to the former flint mining in the Late Neolithic; massive pebbles obtained from the neighboring alluvial deposits were used as mining hammers. Identical technology was employed in the mines dating from the later periods /Rudnik, Central Serbia, Jarmovac, Priboj na Limu/. The Vinca culture of the central Balkan followed all metallurgical phases of introduction of metal and use of the carbonate ores /Gradac I - III phase/. This long process of including the metal in wider use lasted generally from the middle of the 5th millennium BC to the end of the 4th millennium BC, i.e. to the appearance of the Bronze Age.

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Stone Vessels and Values in the Bronze Age Mediterranean

10.1017/cbo9780511499678 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Andrew Bevan

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

The Bronze Age

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Investigating Burnt Mounds in Clydesdale during Motorway Construction

Glasgow Archaeological Journal ◽

10.3366/gas.1998.21.21.1 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 1-28

Author(s):

John A Atkinson ◽

Camilla Dickson ◽

Jane Downes ◽

Paul Robins ◽

David Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Research Strategy ◽

Archaeological Evidence ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Short Account ◽

And Function ◽

The Impact ◽

The Bronze Age

Summary Two small burnt mounds were excavated as part of the programme to mitigate the impact of motorway construction in the Crawford area. The excavations followed a research strategy designed to address questions of date and function. This paper surveys the various competing theories about burnt mounds and how the archaeological evidence was evaluated against those theories. Both sites produced radiocarbon dates from the Bronze Age and evidence to suggest that they were cooking places. In addition, a short account is presented of two further burnt mounds discovered during the construction of the motorway in Annandale.

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A Neolithic Structure and Bronze Age Activity at West Flank Road, Drumchapel, Glasgow

Scottish Archaeological Journal ◽

10.3366/saj.2003.25.2.103 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 103-128

Author(s):

Gavin Macgregor ◽

Irene Cullen ◽

Diane Alldritt ◽

Michael Donnelly ◽

Jennifer Miller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

Research Division ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Archaeological Work ◽

Age Features ◽

The Bronze Age

Summary A programme of archaeological work was undertaken by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) at West Flank Road, Drumchapel, in close proximity to the site of the prehistoric cemetery of Knappers. This paper considers the results of excavation of a range of negative features, including earlier Neolithic and Bronze Age pits and postholes. The earlier Neolithic features date to c. 3500–3000 BC and are interpreted as the partial remains of a subrectangular structure. The Bronze Age features may relate to ceremonial activities in the wider area. The significance of these remains is considered in relation to the site of Knappers and wider traditions during the fourth to second millennia BC.

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