Identyfikacja śladów użytkowania kamiennych i ceramicznych form odlewniczych z późnej epoki brązu / Identification of traces of use on Late Bronze Age stone and ceramic casting moulds

Abstract

A unique set of one- and two-piece casting moulds was found in a cremation burial (grave no. 24) discovered in a Late Bronze Age (900–800 BC) biritual cemetery of the Lusatian Culture in Gogolin-Strzebniów (Silesia), on the basis of which this grave was considered to be the burial of a bronze foundryman. Four two-piece moulds (two ceramic and two stone) and one ceramic one-piece mould were subjected to microscopic observations and spectral studies in order to identify potential traces of use, especially use in the production of casts. The results of the macroscopic observations and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) studies indicated that all of the moulds examined were used according to their function, i.e. for the production of copper alloy casts, before being deposited in the grave. The presence of metallic elements was higher in the stone moulds than in the ceramic ones, which is due to the nature of the material and its resistance to the influence of high temperature and physico-chemical factors. It was possible to identify specimens that were probably used longer (mould for sickles and rods – no. 97) or shorter (mould for rods – no. 24-7) before being deposited in the ground. This supports the hypothesis that a functional casting workshop instrumentarium was deposited in the grave inventory, rather than a set of moulds made specifically for funerary purposes. Interesting is the finding of a one-piece ceramic mould for rods (length ca. 13.5 cm), which were poured after setting the mould at an angle of 30–45 degrees. It confirms the local casting of bronze rods as semi-products for further distribution among the communities of the Lusatian culture in the Oder region.

A Glimpse into Raw Material Management in the Early Iron Age: Bronze Ingots from a Production Settlement in Wicina (Western Poland) in Archaeometallurgical Research

“…The other, marked wi_11_3, was cast in a mold with a rectangular cross-section, showing visible casting defects on both top and bottom surfaces, indicating a high level of alloy outgassing. stone and clay one-piece molds for casting elongated ingots have been found in various regions, including Halle (saale) in saxony-anhalt and gogolin in Upper silesia, dating back to the late Bronze age (1300-800 BC) [31][32]. it is likely that such simple and reproducible shapes of raw material were also mass-produced using sand and metal molds.…”

“…central europe areas have yielded a considerable number of mass deposits (hoards) containing hundreds of such rings [10,[27][28]. it has been suggested that sickles may have played a similar role in the late bronze Age [29], but the primary form of raw material circulation during that time, as well as in the early Iron Age, would have been straight bar-shaped ingots [30][31][32]. The importance of ingots should be understood in the context of increasing population numbers, social complexity and the resulting demand for bronze products, which necessitated the diversification of production and the subsequent need for raw materials with different chemical compositions.…”

Dwie bransolety ze starszego okresu epoki brązu z kujawskiej części Torunia i Brudzynia na Pałukach w świetle badań archeologicznych i archeometalurgicznych

“…W każdym obszarze przeprowadzono niezbędną dla rozpoznania składu chemicznego liczbę pomiarów. Zreferowane poniżej wyniki prac to kolejne działania badawcze przeprowadzone w ostatnich latach dla pradziejowych artefaktów wykonanych ze stopów miedzi (Garbacz-Klempka, Rzadkosz 2014;Garbacz-Klempka i in. 2015;2016;Garbacz-Klempka, Kwak, Kozana, Piękoś, Czekaj 2017;Garbacz-Klempka, Makarowicz, Tokarski 2017;Garbacz-Klempka, Suchy, Kwak, Długosz, Stolarczyk, 2018;Garbacz-Klempka, Suchy, Kwak, Tokarski, Klempka, Stolarczyk 2018).…”

Siekierka brązowa z Falejówki

“…Siekierka została odlana w formie dwuczęściowej z rdzeniem. Formy do odlewania siekierek mogły być wykonane z kamienia lub wypalonej gliny (Gedl 1982;Malinowski 1982;Garbacz-Klempka et al 2016;Garbacz-Klempka, Dzięgielewski 2021). Znane są też trwałe, metalowe formy do odlewania siekierek (Machajewski, Maciejewski 2006;Sałat et al 2006;Baron et al 2014;Kłosińska, Sadowski 2017;Garbacz-Klempka 2018;Kowalski et al 2019a;2019b).…”

“…Świadczy to o dużych trudnościach, jakie musiały występować w czasie zalewania form trwałych lub półtrwałych z rdzeniem przy odlewaniu siekierek z tulejką. Potwierdzają to również siekierki z wadami odlewniczymi, często znajdowane na stanowiskach archeologicznych (Garbacz-Klempka et al 2016;2018a). W przypadku siekierki z Falejówki wady w newralgicznych obszarach nie wystąpiły.…”