Developments in the Early Bronze Age metallurgy of southern Britain

The Mineralogy of Bronze Age Copper Ores from the British Isles: Implications for the Composition of Early Metalwork

“…Archaeometallurgists will be familiar with data suggesting a significant minor element impurity component in much of the analysed Early Bronze Age metalwork from Britain (Northover 1980a(Northover , 1980b(Northover , 1982Needham et al 1989) and Ireland (Coghlan and Case 1957;Junghans et al 1974). Even though it is a small proportion of the total metal recovered, Junghans et al (1974), for instance, analysed more than one thousand Irish Early Bronze Age artefacts and found over 66% contained more than 0.1% As with 15% having more than 0.05% Ni.…”

“…Although the possibility of widespread mixing and re-melting of British Early Bronze Age metalwork was discussed in previous analytical studies (e.g. Needham et al 1989), it was felt that statistical procedures could nevertheless be used to outline broad changes over time and geography. This may indeed be a useful approach as it is reasonable to think in terms of the exhaustion or abandonment of old mines and the development of new sources resulting in gradual changes to the impurity pattern of the stock of metalwork in circulation and giving rise to geographically distinctive patterns which vary over time.…”

“…Therefore it is possible, even likely, that the chalcopyrite-tennantite, or even the fine-grained polymetallic ores from Ross Island could have been smelted to produce an impurity-rich copper and, in particular, an arsenic-rich copper. R.A. IXER AND P. BUDD OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY ß Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1998 CONCLUSIONS Archaeometallurgists will be familiar with data suggesting a significant minor element impurity component in much of the analysed Early Bronze Age metalwork from Britain (Northover 1980a(Northover , 1980b(Northover , 1982Needham et al 1989) and Ireland (Coghlan and Case 1957;Junghans et al 1974). Even though it is a small proportion of the total metal recovered, Junghans et al (1974), for instance, analysed more than one thousand Irish Early Bronze Age artefacts and found over 66% contained more than 0.1% As with 15% having more than 0.05% Ni.…”

“…Most analytical studies of Bronze Age metal artefacts have involved grouping those of similar composition or examining existing typological groups for compositional similarities. In the British Isles the latter approach has been applied by Northover (1980Northover ( , 1980bNorthover ( , 1982 and Needham et al (1989) who were able to outline significant changes in the impurity pattern of copper-based metalwork over time and between different regions. Although it has been possible to comment on the possible provenance of the copper used in various areas and periods on the basis of artefact distribution patterns and the general pattern of copper mineralization in the British Isles, there has, until now, been little opportunity to focus on specific mine sites.…”

The recycling of material culture today and during the Paleolithic

“…One of the critical advantages that metal working provided over lithic technology was the ability to combine and reforge broken and exhausted tools to make new ones. Recycling has been documented throughout the world for the metal industries of ancient copper (Bourgarit and Thomas, 2012;Bray et al, 2012;Potts, 2007, p. 126-128;Simmons and Shugar, 2008), bronze (Bradley, 1988;de Ryck et al, 2005;Figueiredo et al, 2010;Needham et al, 1989;Ottaway and Roberts, 2008), and iron (Lahiri, 1995;Zimring 2005, pp. 12-36).…”