scholarly journals Mining under the early metal in the context of Kartamysh ore occurrence of Ukrainian Donbas

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-53
Author(s):  
Yurii Brovender ◽  
Hennadii Haiko ◽  
Olena Brovender
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Production Method ◽  
Process Engineering ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Mining System ◽  
Experimental Modelling ◽  
Second Millennium Bce

Purpose is to identify process engineering of mining under the Late Bronze age (18th-13th centuries BCE) in the context of copper deposits in the Eastern Ukraine. Among other things, it concerns analysis of manufacturing artifacts (i.e. ore production and preparation) in Kartamysh archeological area within the copper-ore territory of Bakhmut basin of Donbas. Methods. Following methods have been applied: a comparative historical method supported by typological archaeological approach; statistical procedures; engineering and geological methods to determine extraction volumes and evaluate copper ore extraction from the mines in Kartamysh archaeological area as well as structural and technologic analysis; functional and typological analysis; traceological analysis; experimental modelling; and carbon dating. Findings. Analysis of the specialized mining artifacts in Kartamysh archaeological area as well as mining artifacts within other copper-ore deposits in Bakhmut basin, extracted actively under the Late Bronze age, has made it possible to consider newly a number of important issues connected with process engineering of mining, specialization and labour division of ancient miners as well as evaluate significance of Donbas copper mines for the system of metal production development in the Eastern Europe of the second millennium BCE. Originality.Analysis of Kartamysh archaeological area, where the majority of business performance objects are connected with mining, has helped the authors consider specialization of the industrial systems (i.e. different-purpose mine workings, various mining tools, and areas to prepare ore) right from the viewpoint of the production method. Since similar situation is typical for other Donets complex artifacts, being involved in scientific terminology as the mining and smelting one, it would be more reasonable to represent it as Donets ore mining system owing to its specialization in the integrated copper ore extraction and preparation. Practical implications.The research results develop the history of mining science and engineering inclusive of ancient mining history in the Eastern Ukraine. They may be applied to train mining experts and in the process of creation of museum exhibitions (looking ahead, creation of Kartamysh skansen) while synthesizing technical and humanitarian aspects of engineering activities.

scholarly journals Prehistoric copper from the Eastern Alps

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Lutz ◽  
Ernst Pernicka
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Eastern Alps ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Metal Artifacts ◽  
Metal Artefacts

The rich copper ore deposits in the Eastern Alps have long been considered as important sources for copper in prehistoric Central Europe. It is, however, not so clear which role each deposit played. To evaluate the amount of prehistoric copper production of the various mining regions it was attempted to link prehistoric metal artefacts with copper ores based on the geochemical characteristics of the ore deposits that have been exploited in ancient times. More than 120 ore samples from the well known mining districts Mitterberg, Viehhofen, Kitzbühel and Schwaz/Brixlegg have been analysed so far (lead isotope ratios, trace elements). Furthermore, about 730 archaeological copper/bronze artifacts were investigated and analysed. These results were combined with analytical data generated by previous archaeometallurgical projects in order to compile a substantial database for comparative studies. In the Early Bronze Age, most metal artifacts were made of copper or bronze with fahlore impurity patterns and most finds from this period match excellently the fahlore deposits in Schwaz and Brixlegg. At the end of the Early Bronze Age, a new variety of copper with lower concentrations of impurities appeared. The impurity patterns of these finds match the ores from the Mitterberg district. In the Middle Bronze Age, this variety of copper Dominated while in the Late Bronze Age fahlores from Schwaz and Brixlegg experienced a comeback. The reason for this may be a decline of the chalcopyrite mines or a rising demand for copper which could not be covered by the chalcopyrite mines alone. The finds of the Early Iron Age are of similar composition and continue the traditions of the Late Bronze Age.

Eastern and Central Mediterranean

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Lead Isotope ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Northern Greece ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Lead Isotope Analysis ◽  
Aegean Islands ◽  
Copper Mines

Copper objects first circulated on the Greek mainland during the fifth millennium BC and shortly after in the islands of the southern Aegean (Zachos 2007). The earliest metalwork of Late Neolithic date comprised small objects such as awls, beads, and bracelets. Metal use gradually expanded during the Chalcolithic stage that followed, with production of larger items such as axeheads. There are parallels with the development of early metallurgy in the Balkans, however there was much less copper in circulation. This may be explained by the absence of early copper mines comparable to Rudna Glava or Ai Bunar in either Greece or the Aegean islands. The use of metal in the Aegean expanded significantly during the third millennium BC, with the emergence of a flourishing culture that had extensive seafaring contacts (Renfrew 1972). The importance of maritime trade in this region dates from the Neolithic when the island of Melos was a major source of obsidian across the east Mediterranean. Lead isotope analysis confirms that the copper, lead, and silver used by the Cycladic culture of the Early Bronze Age came from ore sources on many of those islands (Stos-Gale 1989). These metals were traded widely across the Aegean, with supply also into mainland Greece. While no copper mines have been identified, lead/silver workings of this period are recorded at Lavrion and at Ayios Sostis on Siphnos (Wagner et al. 1980). There are numerous deposits of copper ore and other metals in mainland Greece. No prehistoric copper mines have been identified; however, the potential has been examined by lead isotope analysis. An examination of various ore deposits in northern Greece, including examples in Thrace and eastern Macedonia, Thasos, the Pangeon Mountains, and Chalkidki did not reveal any likely sources of copper in prehistory. Samples were also taken in east-central Greece, from mineralization in the Othrys Mountains where there are several indications of ancient mining. Radiocarbon dates indicate copper mining at various locations there during the first millennium BC (Gale and Stos-Gale 2002: table 3).

scholarly journals An Archaeometallurgical Explanation for the Disappearance of Egyptian and Near Eastern Cobalt-Blue Glass at the end of the Late Bronze Age

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Wood ◽  
Yi-Ting Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Glass Production ◽  
Glass Frit ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Blue Glass ◽  
Native Silver ◽  
Cobalt Blue

A recent compositional study of Egyptian cobalt-blue glass from museum collections in Japan (18th Dynasty) and from the site of Dahshur (18th and 19th-20th Dynasties) concluded that a new source of cobalt was exploited for the later Dahshur glass, thereby suggesting that glass production continued into the Ramesside period (Abe et al. 2012). It is shown in the current article that some of this 18th Dynasty glass and the majority of the 19th-20th Dynasty glass had been recycled, not only supporting the general consensus that glass production virtually disappeared by 1250 BC, but that the cobalt source did not necessarily change. It is further proposed, however, that the generally accepted cobalt source for Egyptian glass was not the alum deposits of Egypt's Western Desert, but derived from cobaltiferous siliceous ores, possibly from central Iran. Re-analysis of the compositions of cobalt-blue glass frit found at Amarna, as well as Egyptian and Mesopotamian glass, suggests that the cobalt colourant was a by-product of silver extraction from these ores and can therefore be considered as a concentrated cobalt glass slag, which travelled in the form of a frit to glass producers who added it to locally derived base glasses and/or their precursors. Experiments conducted on ore containing cobalt-nickel arsenides with native silver demonstrate that not only can silver be extracted and that concentrated cobalt glass can be produced simply by adding a flux, but that some components of the ore partition preferentially into the silver or the glass slag, thereby weakening their associations with the other components in archaeological glass. Treating the cobalt-blue colourant as a slag composed of the gangue of a smelting system provides an explanation for the unique elevated levels of alumina and lower levels of potash found in cobalt-blue glasses, as well as providing an explanation for the cessation of cobalt exploitation at the end of the Late Bronze Age. It is suggested that the exhaustion of native silver and siliceous silver ore deposits during the Bronze Age, with argentiferous lead ores becoming the main source of silver, depleted the amount of cobalt available, thereby reducing the amount of glass produced which, in turn, led to increases in recycling during the New Kingdom period.

scholarly journals The Chaine Operatoire of Bronze Age Mining: Tools From the Novotemirsky Copper Mine (Southern Trans-Urals)

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-115
Author(s):  
Alaeva I. ◽  
◽  
Molchanov I. ◽  
Fomichev A. ◽  
Ankushev M. ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffraction Analysis ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Fluorescence Analysis ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Functional Identification ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Main Research

The paper is devoted to the problem of the development level and organization models of mining within the Eurasian metallurgical province of the Late Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BC. The main research aim is to determine the chain of technological processes taking place at the Novotemirsky ancient mine in the Southern Trans-Urals. The sources of raw materials, traces of use, and functional identification of stone (n=58) and bone tools (n=1) were determined using traceological, petrographic, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray diffraction analysis. All tools were divided into three groups depending on their use: mining (a casting mould for a pick), ore crushing (hammers, small hammers), supporting devices (“bases”, counterweights for lifting ore). The absence of mining and processing (grinding pestles, grinding stones) and metal-working (blacksmith hammers) tools at the Novotemirsky mine indicates a narrow range of technical operations associated only with direct mining of copper ore and ore-preparing (crushing large blocks). It is assumed that there is a partial specialization of mining, which consists in the formation of temporary miners’ collectives, who are seasonally involved in these operations. Keywords: stone tools, ancient mine, Late Bronze Age, Southern Trans-Urals, Alakul culture, traceological analysis, X-ray fluorescence analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis

scholarly journals Dig out, Dig in! Plant-based diet at the Late Bronze Age copper production site of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria) and the relevance of processed foodstuffs for the supply of Alpine Bronze Age miners

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248287
Author(s):  
Andreas G. Heiss ◽  
Thorsten Jakobitsch ◽  
Silvia Wiesinger ◽  
Peter Trebsche
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Foxtail Millet ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Plant Macroremains ◽  
Cereal Products ◽  
Mining Communities ◽  
Daily Diet ◽  
Opencast Mines

This paper starts from theoretical and methodical considerations about the role of archaeobotanical finds in culinary archaeology, emphasizing the importance of processed cereal preparations as the “missing link” between crop and consumption. These considerations are exemplified by the discussion of abundant new archaeobotanical data from the Late Bronze Age copper mining site of Prigglitz-Gasteil, situated at the easternmost fringe of the Alps. At this site, copper ore mining in opencast mines took place from the 11th until the 9th century BCE (late Urnfield Culture), as well as copper processing (beneficiation, smelting, refining, casting) on artificial terrain terraces. During archaeological excavations from 2010 to 2014, two areas of the site were investigated and sampled for archaeobotanical finds and micro-debris in a high-resolution approach. This paper aims at 1) analysing the food plant spectrum at the mining settlement of Prigglitz-Gasteil basing on charred plant macroremains, 2) investigating producer/consumer aspects of Prigglitz-Gasteil in comparison to the Bronze Age metallurgical sites of Kiechlberg, Klinglberg, and Mauken, and 3) reconstructing the miners’ and metallurgists’ diets. Our analyses demonstrate that the plant-based diet of the investigated mining communities reflects the general regional and chronological trends rather than particular preferences of the miners or metallurgists. The lack of chaff, combined with a high occurrence of processed food, suggests that the miners at Prigglitz-Gasteil were supplied from outside with ready-to-cook and processed grain, either from adjacent communities or from a larger distance. This consumer character is in accordance with observation from previously analysed metallurgical sites. Interestingly, the components observed in charred cereal products (barley, Hordeum vulgare, and foxtail millet, Setaria italica) contrast with the dominant crop taxa (broomcorn millet, Panicum miliaceum, foxtail millet, and lentil, Lens culinaris). Foraging of fruits and nuts also significantly contributed to the daily diet.

scholarly journals To the issue of tin bronzes over the area of the Dnieper-Don region in the late bronze age

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Ю.М. Бровендер
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Pure Copper ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Ancient Population ◽  
Geological Surveys ◽  
Tin Deposits

The paper is devoted to tin ores as an alloying impurity in the bronze production by the ancient population of the Dnieper-Don region in the Late Bronze Age. The eastern and western supply vectors providing the local population with both ore (cassiterite) and its products are considered. The author draws attention to the assumptions of some researchers not confirmed by geological surveys about the possibility of finding tin deposits in the Donbass and Krivoy Rog basin, which could probably have been developed in the Early Metal Age. An opinion was given regarding the production of bronze from copper ore with a high content of metals - impurities in the mineral phase and separately from polymetallic ore. In ancient times for the development of any mineral, its availability for development, as well as a great volume or high content of useful mineral in ore were indispensable conditions. Due to existing technologies, the requirements for minerals in antiquity were much higher than modern ones. On the issue of tin raw materials for bronze production of the ancient population of Ukraine, attention is drawn to the assumption, not yet confirmed by geological surveys of some researchers (S.I. Tatarinov,  D.P. Kravets, D.P. Nedopako) on the possibility of finding tin deposits in such ore-rich regions of Ukraine as the Donbass and Krivoy Rog. The experimental work carried out on the basis of ores of the Kartamysh ore occurrence have indeed confirmed the idea of chemical elements redistribution, when some metals decrease and others increase. This trend with reference to the results of spectral analyzes of Bakhmut ores, slags and products of the Donetsk Mining and Metallurgical Center, performed by E.N. Chernykh was noted by S.I. Tatarinov. However, to obtain bronze, a high percentage of bronze-forming impurities is required, including tin in the minerals. However, the copper and polymetallic ores of Donbass do not contain enough tin in the initial ore to produce tin bronze. A series of our experiments yielded just pure copper. Thus, the author reposes on the commune notion, according to which it is not possible to obtain bronze from copper ores of Donbass and bronze without on purpose input of the appropriate elements into the melt.

The Late Bronze Age in the West and the Aegean

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Bryce
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Western Anatolia ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
The West ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Second Millennium Bce

This article presents data on western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age, wherein it was the homeland of a wide range of states and population groups. The most important and most powerful of these was a group of kingdoms that are attested in Hittite texts as the Arzawa Lands. Most scholars associate the development of these kingdoms with Luwian-speaking populations who had occupied large parts of Anatolia from (at least) the early second millennium BCE. The most enduring link between Anatolia's Late Bronze Age civilizations and their first-millennium-BCE successors is provided by the Lukka people, one of the Luwian-speaking population groups of southwestern Anatolia. They were almost certainly among the most important agents for the continuity and spread of Luwian culture in southern Anatolia throughout the first millennium BCE.

scholarly journals Digital documentation and visualization of archaeological excavations and finds using 3D scanning technology

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Moser ◽  
Simon Hye ◽  
Gert Goldenberg ◽  
Klaus Hanke ◽  
Kristóf Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mining Area ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Research Project ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Modern Times ◽  
The University

<p>In 2007 the special research program HiMAT - History of Mining Activities in Tyrol and adjacent areas, focussing on environment and human societies, was established at the University of Innsbruck as an interdisciplinary and international research project, sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). During late medieval and early modern times, the mining area of Schwaz in Tyrol became famous in Europe, due to the large scale exploitation of copper and silver bearing fahlores, going along with the development of high technologies in the field of mining and metallurgy. In that period, Schwaz was even called “the mother of all mines”.</p><p>In the area of Schwaz/Brixlegg the main focus of our research project is on early traces of copper mining and metallurgy dating back to the late Bronze Age. Such traces are still preserved, especially in boundary areas of the main ore deposits. On the basis of previous surveys a little valley called “Maukental” was chosen for archaeological investigations, because within this small area the entire copper production process of the late Bronze Age can be studied in detail. During the past two years, the Institute of Archaeology and Surveying and the Geoinformation Unit of the University of Innsbruck worked together in this area. One object of interest was a late Bronze Age ore dressing site situated in a former peat-bog. In this place the advantageous environment preserved fragile wooden structures and artefacts which could be digitally documented in the condition of retrieval.</p>

Libraries in Syria and the Levant in the Late Bronze Age, c.1450–1100 BCE

2019 ◽  
pp. 210-243
Author(s):  
Matthew Rutz
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
The North ◽  
Second Millennium Bce ◽  
The Bronze Age

Syria and the southern Levant has a long and rich epigraphic tradition that was rediscovered in the last century through archaeological excavation. Written remains stretching from the Bronze Age (Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Ugarit, and Emar) down into the Roman period (Qumran) provide ample evidence for the collecting of literary texts, broadly conceived, and the formation of ancient libraries. This survey gives an overview of the archaeological distribution of what modern scholarship has termed ‘libraries’ and considers the chronological, geographic, and textual depth of the data from the region as whole. It then considers the principal case studies from ancient Syria and the Levant—cuneiform libraries from the north Syrian sites of Ugarit and Emar dating to the last centuries of the second millennium BCE.

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