Soubor kovových předmětů z doby římské z Boršova na Moravskotřebovsku An Assemblage of Metal Roman Iron Age Artefacts from Boršov in the Moravská Třebová Region

An archaeological situation documented in 2016 in the cadastral territory of Boršov (Svitavy district, Pardubice Region, Czech Republic) contained more than 70 metal artefacts scattered mostly over an area of 5 x 2 m. The finds were made with the use of metal detectors in an otherwise unsettled space in close proximity to defunct roads crossing a sharp local terrain fault. The finds were concentrated on hilly terrain between two slight watercourses. The collection is composed mainly of fragments of intentionally broken artefacts made from a copper alloy, castings of the mouth of casting channels, ingots, as well as craft tools, coins, a fragment of a bronze mould, fibula parts, etc. The assemblage dates to the end of the Marcomannic Wars or the period immediately following them and documents a close relationship with the processing of non-ferrous metals. The assemblage also contains antiques, especially in the form of a La Tène belt hook. Roman Iron Age, Marcomannic Wars, copper metallurgy, imports, roads, ritual activities, Moravia

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FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE CENTER OF METALWORKING IN NORTH PONTIC REGION IN THE EARLY IRON AGE

Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine ◽

10.37445/adiu.2019.02.41 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 506-513

Author(s):

S. Yа. Olgovskyi

Keyword(s):

Black Sea ◽

Iron Age ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Metal Working ◽

The Urals ◽

Black Sea Region ◽

Trade Routes ◽

Ferrous Metals ◽

Non Ferrous Metals ◽

Foundry Workers

The paper is attempt to identify the hotbed of metalworking in the Northern Black Sea region in the 6th—5th centuries BC. At the same time, an explanation is given that the hotbed of metalworking should be understood not as a complex of specialized metal-working centers, but as a region of similar production with uniform typological, chemical and metallurgical characteristics, and unified production technology. Contrary to outdated claims, the level of foundry in the forest-steppe Scythian centers in the archaic time was incomparably higher than in the Greek colonies, and it was the local craftsmen who provided the population of the Northern Black Sea region with products made of non-ferrous metals. Many craftsmen worked in the off-premise way, that is, they led a mobile (wandering) lifestyle, extending their activities to the Greek colonies. Some alloys, with an admixture of antimony and arsenic in particular, indicate the links of the foundry workers to the mines of the Volga region and the Urals. However, it is not possible to speak of metal coming from there directly into the Greek colonies. There were no trade routes from Olbia to the eastern regions, since no Greek thing is known on any of the monuments of the Ananian culture. On the contrary, Scythian ornaments and weapons are quite common. Therefore, it was through the Scythian merchants and metallurgists that the metal with an admixture of antimony entered the Northern Black Sea region and the Greek colonies in particular.

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