THE ORIGINS OFMETALLURGY

INATLANTIC EUROPE

PROCEEDINGSOF THE FIFTH ATLANTIC COLLOQUIUM

DUBLIN30th March to 4th April 1978

Edited byMICHAEL RYAN

DUBLI:'\.PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE.

To be purchased through any Bookseller, or directly from theGOVER!\'I\IE1\T PUBLICATI01\S SALE OFFICE, GP.O. ARCADE, DUBLIN, 1.

1950

ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Chairman

Dr. Joseph RafteryNational Museum of Ireland

Secretary

Michael RyanNational Museum of Ireland

Professor Ruaidhri De Valera, University College, DublinProfessor Michael Duignan, University College, Galway

Laurence Flanagan, Ulster Museum, BelfastDr. Peter Harbison, Bord Failte Eireann

Professor M. J. .O'Kelly, University College, CorkDr. Barry Raftery, University College, Dublin

Professor Etienne Rynne, University College, Galway

Editor's NoteThe Editor would like to express his gratitude and appreciatIOn to his colleague, Mr. Raghnall 6

Floinn, Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland, for his assistance in editing the papers andfor seeing the final lext through to publication.

Summaries of the papers in preliminary form were published by the Committee as a booklet-programme, Dublin, March 1978.

CONTENTSPages

81-96

97-105

AcknowledgementsOrganising CommitteeM. Almagro-Gorbea

Problems of the Origin of Metallurgy in the Iberian Peninsula (Pre Beaker Metallurgy) 1-6A. Arribas and Fernando Molina

Nuevas Aportaciones al Inicio de fa Metalurgia en la Peninsula Iberica. EI Poblado de los Castille-jos de Montefrio (Granada) 7-34

J. Arnal, A. Bocquet, A. Robert et G. VerraesLa Naissance de la Metallurgie dans Ie Sud-Est de la France 35~3

J. Guilaine et J. VaquerLes Debuts de la :'v1etallurgie et les Groupes Culturels de la fin du Neolithique dans Ie Sud de laFrance (Languedoc, Causses, Pyrenees) 65-79

J. BriardProblemes Metallurgiques du Bronze Armoricain: Etain, Plomb et Argent

P. HarbisonWho were Ireland's first Metallurgists?

J. S. JacksonMetallic Ores in Irish Prehistory: Copper and Tin

M. J. O'Kelly and C. A. ShellStone objects and a Bronze axe from Newgrange, Co. Meath

L. N. W. FlanaganIndustrial Resources, Production and Distribution in earlier Bronze Age Ireland

107-125

127-144

145-163

205

215-228

207-214

229-250

P. HolmesThe manufacturing technology of the Irish Bronze Age horns 165-188

B. G. ScottThe introductions of non-ferrous and ferrous metal technologies to Ireland: Motives andMechanisms 189-204

G. EoganIrish Bronze Age manufacturing centres: Some evidence from moulds (summary only)

C. BurgessThe background of early metalworking in Ireland and Britain

A. HartmannIrish and British Gold Types and their West European Counterparts

J. J. TaylorThe Relationship of British Early Bronze Age Goldwork to Atlantic Europe

C. A. ShellThe Early Exploitation of Tin Deposits in South-West England

S. NeedhamThe Extent of Foreign Influence on Early Bronze Age Axe Development in Southern Britair

E. MacKieThe Origin of Iron-Working in Scotland

K~~~ .Resource Distribution and the Function of Copper in Early Neolithic Denmark

E. TholanderA study of the Technology behind Nickel-alloyed Prehistoric Steel having a LaminatedStructure

251-263

265-293

295-302

303-318

319-334

335-343

B. Jo~anovicThe Origins of Metallurgy III South-East and Central Europe and Problems of the EarliestCopper Mining

J. J. ButlerRings and Ribs: The Copper Types of the "Ingot Hoards" of the Central European Early BronzeAge 345-362

W. Groenman-Van WaateringeWeeds

P. T. CraddockDeliberate. Alloying in the Atlantic Bronze Age

Members of the Colloquium

363-368

369-385

387-389

THE ORIGINS OF METALLURGY I' SOUTH-EAST AND CENTRAL EUROPE ANDPROBLEMS OF THE EARLIEST COPPER MINING

BY

BORISLAV JOVANOVIC

Hitherto, relations between South-East andCentral Europe during the formative period andevolution of the earliest copper mining have beenexamined from different points of view. These in-vestigations have often been part of the generalevaluation of cultural processes which took place inthese regions during the Late Neolithic and EarlyEneolithic. There are also numerous interpreta-tions of the origin of early copper metallurgy, basedon various analyses of the technology of winningmetals and the production of tools.

Much research has focussed on an explanation ofthe origins of copper metallurgy by determinationof the chronological priority of the earliest use ofcopper and gold. The conclusion has been drawnthat the diffusion of the oldest metallurgicalknowledge began from the Near East, and in par-ticular Iran and Anatolia. Recent data confirm thechronological priority of the Near East andAnatolia, where the processing of metals began atthe beginning of the 7th millennium H.C (Vulpe1976, 134; Todorova 1973, 27). It is doubtless im-portant to draw a distinction between individualusage of copper objects and their mass production.

A major research field in recent years has beenthe early exploitation of copper and gold in metal-liferous areas such as the Near East, South-Eastand Central Europe. As a result of recent investiga-tions an interesting picture emerges; the miningregions of North-West Iran, Central and WestAnatolia, South Thrace, the Central Balkans andthe Carpathian Basin were not only the richest inore deposits, but also witnessed a simultaneouslocal evolution of their copper metallurgy.

In all of these regions a gradual evolution of met-allurgy has been ascertained, often with specific

local variation within a general technological tradi-tion. Consequent upon definition of metallurgicalcentres and territories, imports from productioncentres to the peripheral regions have been deter-mined by comparison of the distribution ofEneolithic copper and gold objects, e.g. in the Car-pathians and lower Danube Basin, including SouthUkraine (Cernych 1976, 181).

A partially complete programme of analysis ofEneolithic copper and gold objects has permittedgeographical comparisons of objects of similar com-position aunghans et. at. 1960, 61). Whilst severalgroups of copper have been determined byanalyses, their direct relation to the ore bodies hasnot been precisely established. Once again theseresults suggest a local evolution of copper metal-lurgy, showing stages in the basic techniques of ob-taining the metal. One can mention also metal-lographical analyses which indicate the gradualdevelopment of processing of metal, even for areaswithout any ore deposits, e.g. the territory of theTripolje culture (Cernych 1976, 182).

Today one can have access to better evidence ofore deposits, exploited in the past, but which areuneconomic for modern exploitation. It is now clearthat one should take into consideration a number ofless substantial deposits, possibly of major impor-tance in the initial phase of copper metallurgy, es-pecially with regard to its local evolution.

In examining the complex questions of the originand development of copper metallurgy in South-East and East Europe, it seems that another pos-sibility has been neglected. It is an examination ofthe role of mining in the evolution of primary cop-per metallurgy - including mining of otherminerals - during the Neolithic and Eneolithic

335

FIG. 1 - Map showing the general distribution of some of the copper-using cultural groups, South-East Europe.

periods.A lack of direct data (total until recently) is

enough to explain the relative neglect of this theme.The importance of copper mining is shown by thefact that rich sources of raw materials represent abasic prerequisite for independent evolution of cop-per metallurgy. In that case the scale of thetechnology of the early mining depends to some ex-tent on the technical and resource base from whichit developed. Mining experience can of course bediffused or transmitted in the same way as the pos-sible spread of knowledge of metal smelting andcasting, yet it is hardly mentioned at all in discus-sions of the diffusion of metallurgy. Similarly thepossibility of the diffusion of mining techniques forother minerals is generally forgotten.

336

The investigation of early mining and its links".... ith an explanation of the origins and develop-ments of primary metallurgy in South-East andCentral Europe reveals hitherto unsuspected pos-sibilities for a more exact understanding of this newproduction advance. By the introduction of mininginto the investigation of the process of winningmetals, the technological sequence - consisting ofextraction of copper ores, smelting and manufac-ture of copper and gold - is completed.

According to available data, copper mining inthe Eneolithic period has been discovered and in-vestigated in South-East Europe at two sites: AiBunar in South Bulgaria (Cernych 1976, 183), andRudna Glava near Majdanpek in North EastYugoslavia (Jovanovic 1976a, 106), (fig. 1).

The first site consists of extensive surface miningof massive copper ore deposits, exposed in cleftsover a length of c. 0,5 km. Ore extraction started asopen-cast, the depth of which is not always known,but which extended to not less than 20 m. There isa strong possibility of pit mining, especially wheretwo branching open casts join at greater depth.Judging by the ceramic evidence, the main, large-scale exploitation took place during the LateEneolithic culture Karanovo VI - Kodza Dermen- Cumelni1;a, i.e. 4th millennium B.C. Settlementsof this culture were located in the immediatevicinity of this mining centre (Cernych 1976, 183).

Among tools found in the zones of exploitation,bone and antler implements prevail, while stonetools are limited to a very small number (Cernych1976, 183). Only one single damaged maul wasfound, probably grooved.

On the basis of spectrographic analyses of thecomposition of copper tools from east and southeastareas of the Balkans, mainly Bulgaria, (fig. 1),there is a theory that this mining centre providedore for South and r\orth Bulgaria, and part ofSouth Ukraine as well (Cernych 1976, 184). So,there is good evidence for local metallurgicalproduction; the existence of a large and active min-ing centre has been confirmed; ores ready forprocessing have been found in neighbouring settle-ments during the period of Karanovo VI; productsof evolved copper and gold metallurgy are attestedby numerous metal finds in this area, e.g. the ex-traordinary copper and gold objects from the wellknown Late Eneolithic necropolis at Varna (Ivanov1975,2).

A second production zone of copper metallurgyand mining has now been documented by recent in-vestigations in the area of the Late Vinca culture(fig. 1). The principal new discovery is the intensiveexploitation of copper oxide ores at the RudnaClava mine near Majdanpek in North-East Serbia.The excavations have been carried out since 1968by the ~1useum of Mining and Metallurgy at Borand the Archaeological Institute of Belgrade (fig.1).

On the site of a modern open-cast iron mine (pI.1), old mining works were discovered, followingmagnetite and chalcopyrite veins with a rich con-tent of secondary oxide are, viz. malachite andazurite. Vertical shafts of this Early Eneolithicmine of the beginning of the Late Vinca period,represented therefore just the empty channels of theveins, and the same was true of the horizontal or

PL. 1- Rudna Glava.;';:W side ofthe open-cast iron mine,west platform 3 in upper left corner.

slanting galleries, to which the deeper veins hadbranched (pI. 2). To date 25 shafts have been in-vestigated at Rudna Clava; all of them were filledwith an accumulation of material, includingnumerous stone tools and sherds characteristic ofthe early phase of the Late Vinca group.

PL. 2- Rudna Glava, Early Eneolithic mine. Shaft No.4.The date of the Rudna Clava mine has been

amply confirmed by three ceramic hoards found insitu, with well preserved vessels, whose relative-chronological position is in no doubt (pI. 3). Thehoards date the utilization of the mine to the transi-tion from the Early to the Late Vinca B-Vinca C

337

714

2

8 9

3 4

10

o

15

50

11

5

100MM

16

12

6

13

17

338

FIG. 2 - Hoards of copper tools 1-2, Plocnik.

~~~ "fl I- -Hul 0 50 100MM~ ~H'ill-I\~~-I~~~If{IH~ ~i~ ~~n~rl~ ~, ~~ ~ ~\~ I ~ '%-~~ ~~

J l-

2 3 4 5

6 7 8

~ -o

-50MM

~u5 6

FIG. 3 - Hoards of copper tools 3-4, Plocnik.

339

PL. 3 - Ceramic hoard 1\0. 2, access platform of Shaft :\0. 6a.

(Jovanovic 1976a, 108; 1976b, 84). This date is con-firmed by the discovery of an altar withcharacteristic deer's head terminals as well as theclosed finds of stone and bone tools and pottery inthe shafts and hoard no. 3.

The Rudna Clava copper mine can generally bedated to the middle or second half of the 4th millen-nium B.C., or slightly earlier. In relativechronological terms Rudna Clava correspondsgenerally to the Karanovo V-Marica group inBulgaria, the Herpaly-Csoszhalom and Lengyelgroups in the Pannonian plain, the Petre~ti groupin Romania and the Stroke-Ornamented Potteryculture of Central Europe (Jovanovic 1976b, 88;Makkay 1976, 270).

A particularly important category of finds atRudna Clava is a series of massive stone hammersor mauls, with a shallow, medial groove (pI. 4). Be-

340

ing unworked pebbles of volcanic origin, mainlygabbro, the damage on their working edges or op-posite sides is clearly recorded. Some of the ham-mers were damaged to such an extent, that theyhad been thrown away in the course of mining work(pI. 4)

Variations in the size and shape of the hammerspoints to some working specialization. There is awide distribution of this sort of massive, stone tool(Jovanovic 1976b, 85; Jackson 1968,96; Wertime1973, 879). Stretching from Europe to the NearEast and Asia, although local typological dif-ferences are quite widespread, such tools arealways connected with ancient mining works.

Bone and antler tools, mainly scrapers or picks,are usually very damaged.

Judging by the number of shafts, their depth anddimensions there is clear evidence of remarkable

PL 4 - A pebble-maul from Shaft No. 2a.

large-scale exploitation of copper ore at the begin-ning of the Early Eneolithic period in the CentralBalkans (pIs. 2 and 3).

Analyses of copper ores and copper itself fromRudna Glava, carried out by the Faculty of Miningand Metallurgy at Bor, the Department of Metal-lurgy of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyneand the British Museum Research Laboratory,showed a high concentration of carbonate minerals,and a composition of metal similar to copper usedfor Eneolithic tools (Ottaway 1976, 111; Tylecote1977 - in press).

In view of the fact that excavation of the RudnaGlava mine is not yet concluded, further work willundoubtedly indicate far greater mining in the Ear-ly Eneolithic period.

If the Rudna Glava mine yielded such con-siderable bulk of copper oxide ore, and it is certainthat it was not the only Early Eneolithic mine, onecould pose the question-what happened to thislarge amount of metal in the later Vinca group?There is no clear evidence of the utilization of suchquantity of early copper in this period, and onemay suppose that such mining work was initiatedfor the production of copper for exchange or export.In this connection it is interesting to recall thehypothesis of an expedition of Anatolian metal-lurgists or prospectors to the Balkans for discover-ing metals (Briard 1976, 24; Renfrew 1976, 186), orthe much clearer evidence of the export of copper

from the Danube Basin and the Carpathians to theTripolje area (Rindina 1971, 101).

There is considerable recent evidence for ad-vanced copper metallurgy in the Late Vinca group,e.g. the data on processing metals from the settle-ments themselves (Gornja Tuzla, Fafos, Divostin,Selevac); information on the production of variousornaments and small tools (Gornja Tuzla,Gradina-Stapari, Gomolava), (Jovanovic 1976a,106), and the remarkable concentration of massivecopper implements at a single site - Plocnik -(Stalio 1973, 158), (figs. 2, 3).

All of these Late Vinca settlements were locatedin different parts of the Central Balkans; some ofthese finds deserve individual mention, viz. the fourhoards of massive copper tools from Plocnik (SouthSerbia), (figs. 2, 3). The bracelet from Gomolavarepresents a rare closed find of a solid copper orna-ment in the Late Vinca group, on the south borderof the Pannonian Plain, similar to the braceletrepresented in the Plocnik hoard-no. 3 (Brukner1976, 12, pI. VII, 2). The hoards from Plocnik aredoubtless a sign of existence of a rich centre of cop-per, serving the southern variant of the Late Vincagroup. This variant was otherwise metallurgicallymore advanced than other variants of the LateVinca group.

The existence of early copper metallurgy furthernorth, in the Carpathian Basin, is documented bythe production of copper and gold ornaments andmassive tools. In general the metal products of theTiszapolgar group resemble those of the Late Vin

and eastern parts of Central Europe with importedmetal. In the neighbouring areas where sufficientquantities of copper were procured by trade or ex-change, e.g. the territory of the Tripolje culture, themanufacture of copper was made on the sametechnological level as mining production zones.

It is understandable that these differences in thetempo of development of the early copper metal-lurgy of South-East and Central Europe werecaused by an unequal disposition of ore deposits. Inother words, varying rates of metallurgical develop-ment in the Early Eneolithic are linked to pos-sibilities for exploitation of copper ore deposits.

Lack of evidence on copper mines of the EarlyEneolithic in Central Europe has been compen-sated to a certain degree by well-investigated dataon flint mining. The well-known flint mines, e.g.Mauer near Vienna, Lengfeld-Sud in Bavaria,Krzemionki in Poland and Krasnoe Selo in WhiteRussia, have been dated from the Neolithic Lengyelgroup to the Corded Ware culture at the end of theLate Eneolithic period (Rutkay 1970, 74; Reisch1974,69; Curina 1976,127). They confirm the ex-istence of well developed technologies for miningother materials during the Eneolithic period ofSouth-East and Central Europe. As there isevidence of obtaining flint from the Middle andLate Paleolithic periods (Reisch 1974, 66), it isjustified to talk about a palaeo-European traditionof early flint mining.

Therefore one must suppose that the develop-ment of the copper metallurgy of South-East andCentral Europe, depending on local ore deposits,was based on adequate mining technologies such asare found at the Rudna Clava mine.

In addition to the use of copper, gold and, aboveall, flint during the Neolithic and Early Eneolithicperiods, other minerals were also exploited byprimary mining techniques. An example is the cin-nabar mine of Suplja Stena, near Belgrade, whereexploitation of red pigment was carried out in theearlier phase of the Vinl':a group Oovanovic 1976a,108). Deposits of clay within the settlementsthemselves were also used during the Neolithic andEneolithic periods of South-East and CentralEurope.

According to present information flint miningwas represented in nearly all regions of Europe, asis clear from the rich production of flint during theNeolithic period. The absence of evidence for flintmines, as is the case at present in South-EasternEurope, does not mean the absence of such ex-

342

ploitation, but is a consequence of the state of in-vestigation.

The exploitation of flint as the most suitable rawmaterial for making tools began, as one has alreadyseen, as early as the Middle and Late Palaeolithic.It is therefore quite justifiable to expect a localdevelopment of flint mining from the early stages ofexploitation. Chronological and technological con-tinuity of flint mining and its mass production in-dicates a hitherto unsuspected continental impor-tance. Therefore it is understandable that, to date,no views have been expressed on the existence ofseparate centres of flint mining in Europe, or out-side it, whence diffusion of mining experience couldspread.

Recent results of investigation clearly confirmthat the technology used in the flint mines ofCentral, Western and Eastern Europe was very ad-vanced. Besides, it has been shown that most of theflint mines are dated to the Late Neolithic,somewhat earlier than Early Eneolithic coppermining. The exploitation of flint was alwaysadapted to local conditions, as can be seen from thefollowing facts: as a rule the richest deposits of flintwere utilized; selection was always made fromlevels with high quality flint, while other sorts offlint found at the same place were ignored; verticalshafts branched at greater depth into horizontalgalleries; wooden reinforcements and supportingprops were developed to protect miners from fallingrocks; initial rough working of the flint was done inthe immediate vicinity of the shafts, while half-finished articles were completed elsewhere (Rutkay1970, 75; Gurina 1976, 83).

All of these elements signify developed miningtechniques and a high degree of experience in theprospecting and use of flint lodes. As similar work-ing techniques exist in Early Eneolithic coppermining, it is difficult to believe that the technologyof obtaining a flint alone should be regarded as anindependent accomplishment of the EuropeanNeolithic and Eneolithic population. Such a viewimplies that the copper mining should be regardedas a result of experience or knowledge brought orborrowed from the metallurgical centres of theNear East or the Aegean.

It seems that against such a conclusion on thediffusion of copper mining technology should beweighed, inter alia, types of mining implements andthe manner of their use. Bone and antler tools arepractically identical in both flint and copper min-ing, but some implements - especially massive

mauls with medial grooves - are more numerousand more varied in the contemporary coppermines. This is related to the nature of the bedrock-copper ores being always found in a solid rockmatrix. In examples where flint was dug from softlayers of chalk, bone and wooden tools were usuallyemployed, but when flint was associated withlimestone matrices, the work was quite different.There the technique of fire-splitting to separateflint concretions was exactly the same as treatmentused for obtaining copper oxide ores in the EarlyEneolithic of South-East and Central Europe.

In this paper some lesser known avenues havebeen explored in the complex network of theearliest European mining and the origins ofprimary copper metallurgy. The following can beregarded merely as preliminary conclusions.

The origins of copper mining can be understoodas a continuation of the mining tradition developedin Europe from the Palaeolithic period and for thatreason, autochthonous. Copper ores (oxide or sul-phide) were exploited by the application of thesame mining technology in the Early Eneolithic,from the time when the processing of copper wasalready introduced. The gradual introduction ofthe copper was a long process, as is shown by singlefinds of metal objects from contexts earlier than theEarly Eneolithic. In South-East Europe, as men-tioned above, finds of small copper tools havealready been recorded in the Cri and Karanovo IIIgroups.

For these reasons mining is an inseparablephenomenon of the earliest copper metallurgy ofSouth-East and Central Europe. An understandingof this mining is, at the same time, another positivecontribution to the standpoint of the local evolutionof Early Eneolithic copper metallurgy in this part ofEurope.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BRUKNER, B. 1976, "Gomolava, Hrtkovci-vi~eslojnonalaziste", Arheoloski pregled 18, 12-14.

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CERNYCH, N. E. 1976, "Metallurgische Bereiche Des 4-2jahrt. Chr. in der DSSR," Les debuts de la metallurgie,

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GURINA, N. N. 1976, Drevnie kremnedobivajuscie sahti,Moskva.

ESIN, U. 1976, "Die Anfange Der Metallverwendung undBearbeitung in Anatolien (7500-2000 v. Chr.)," Les de-buts de la metallurgie, ice, 209-240.

IVANOV, I. 1975, "Razkopki na varnenskija eneolitennekropol prez 1972g.(Ausgrabungen der AneolitischeNekropole in Varna im jahre 1972)", livest. na

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JOVANOVIC, B. 1976b, "Rudna Glava and the beginningof metallurgy in the Central Balkans," Bollettino delCentro Camuno di Studi Preistorici 13-14, 77-90.

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MAKKAY, J. 1976, "Problems concerning Copper Agechronology in the Carpathian Basin," ActaArchaeologica Academiae Stientiarum Hungan'cae 28, 251-300.

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