Copper supply during the Final Neolithic at the Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames site (Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

Abstract

The Saint-Blaise/Bains des Dames stratified site in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, contains several occupations that span the Late through Final Neolithic, including the Horgen, Lüscherz, and Auvernier-Cordé periods. As part of a study on prehistoric metallurgy in western Switzerland, we compare the lead isotope ratios (multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer) and elemental compositions (instrumental neutron activation analysis) of the site's numerous copper finds to a database of corresponding measurements for copper ores throughout Europe. The results show a considerable variation in copper compositions present at the site, suggesting complex economic relationships and multiple chaînes opératoires during the time in question. Specifically, during the Final Neolithic, we distinguished ten coherent clusters, confirmed by both the elemental compositions and lead isotope ratios. When compared to the Europe-wide database of copper ores, we observed significant changes in the provenance of the copper through time that reflect equally significant changes in social, cultural, and economic interactions.

Provenance of Early Bronze Age metal artefacts in Western Switzerland using elemental and lead isotopic compositions and their possible relation with copper minerals of the nearby Valais

“…Additionally, a large database has been established for metallic minerals across Europe, and Anatolia in order to allow a comparison of the archaeological artefacts with all the available ore sources data (see references in Cattin et al 2009b, database provided on request; see also Cattin et al 2009a for additional references). As very little is currently known about copper networks during the Early Bronze Age, we selected the published data without a priori knowledge of the mines that either were, or could have been, exploited prehistorically.…”

“…The lunulae are of two types: (I) copper (740d, 740f, 740h), and (II) copper/tin composition, with a content of 39000 mg/kg and 22000 mg/kg of tin for lunulae 740e and 740g respectively; the copper/tin composition of group A(II) figures as an outlier in the data set from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (BzA1). Such tin content is found in Late Neolithic and Bell Beaker contexts throughout Europe, and may not necessarily be the result of alloying (Cattin et al 2009b). Within contemporaneous contexts from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, some specific daggers found in the Singen necropolis (Konstanz, Germany), named "Atlantic", present a higher content, between 50000 and 90000 mg/kg tin (Krause 1988).…”

“…Despite the fact that these compositional pattern groups remain in use as a classification tool, the Stuttgart studies do not sufficiently fulfil all aspects of the scientific goals concerning the origin and development of metallurgy in Europe, and more specifically in Western Switzerland. As exemplified by more recent research studies in the Alpine area, the use of lead isotope ratios and the elemental composition for sourcing studies gives new weight to the question of copper circulation in prehistory (Artioli et al 2009;Cattin 2008Cattin , 2009Cattin et al 2009b;Höppner et al 2005;Niederschlag et al 2003). In parallel to these archaeometric studies, surveys and fieldwork studies supplied new information concerning the prehistoric mining activities and ore processing in Austria (Krauss 2003;Rieser and Schrattenthaler 2004;Stöllner et al 2004), Eastern Switzerland (Schaer 2003;Schaer and Fasnacht 2002), France (Bailly-Maître and Gonon 2006; Barge et al 2003), and Italy (Artioli et al 2007;Poggiani Keller 1999Poggiani Keller et al 2006).…”

Lead isotopic measurements in archeological objects

“…The question of Late Neolithic trade routes was addressed in the Ph.D. thesis of Cattin (2008), a chapter of which is presented in this volume (Cattin et al 2009). One of the most surprising findings was that, in the Late Neolithic (and even more so in the Bronze Age), metal objects have a great variety of provenances and that some of the isotopic fingerprints do not coincide with any major ore deposit known today.…”

How Mineralogy and Geochemistry Can Improve the Significance of Pb Isotopes in Metal Provenance Studies

“…Other recent reviews on metal provenance studies have been carried out by Pollard () and Stos‐Gale and Gale (), as well as a lead isotope inventory by Cattin et al . ().…”