Eneolithic flat axe from Raciborowice, site No. 7, Białopole commune, Chełm district

Abstract

This study is a contribution to research on copper metallurgy in the early Eneolithic (= Chalcolithic). The axe was discovered as a “single” artefact. It represents the category of flat axes with a convex cutting edge. The metallurgical mass consist of “pure” copper, or it may contain a small admixture of silver. The Raciborowice specimen corresponds well to the Szakálhát type, the Sárazsadány variant, and specifically to the two Budapest-Békásmegyer tools. According to Albert Schmitz’s classification, the tool from Raciborowice belongs to category 5 or to its variant marked as 6 (Beilform 5, 6). Categories 5 and 6 are dated to the early Eneolithic: from the transition of phase Ib to IIa, the entire phase II, up to phase IIIa. Their concentration occurs in Hungary and Slovakia, where are recorded in the Bodrogkeresztúr culture graves. The analysed artefact, should probably be related to the Lublin-Volhynian culture.