New data on the provenance of copper finds from the Early-Middle Copper Age of the Great Hungarian Plain

Abstract

The completely excavated settlement and cemetery of Rákóczifalva-Bivaly-tó Site 1/C provide a unique opportunity to study the copper artefacts and the question of local metallurgy on the Great Hungarian Plain in the Early-Middle Copper Age (4350-4000 cal BC). Although the cemetery is rich in metal finds, no traces of local metallurgy were found in the settlement. The results of chemical compositional analysis revealed that the copper finds were made of pure copper; their compositions were very similar to each other, except for two daggers which contained a higher amount of arsenic and silver. The lead isotope analysis (LIA) suggested that the raw material of axes and spiral bracelets likely derives from the Balkans, most probably from Majdanpek and from the present-day Central Bulgaria. Furthermore, a currently unknown source has to be taken into consideration in the case of a large bracelet. The majority of copper finds in the cemetery occurred together with Bodrogkeresztúr-style pottery, and these may be contemporary with the Krivodol-Sălcuţa-Bubanj Hum complex. This points to the fact that the Great Hungarian Plain belonged to the Central Balkan copper supply network.

Early Balkan Metallurgy: Origins, Evolution and Society, 6200–3700 BC

“…Scholarly debates regarding the Final Chalcolithic period in the Balkans (c. 4100-3700 BC) have traditionally been dominated by narratives of a societal collapse in eastern and central Bulgaria, as indicated by a substantial reduction in archaeologically visible (and dated) settlements (Kienlin, 2010;Weninger et al 2009). Metal provenance data also support this interpretation with a noticeable shift in copper supply networks from the eastern to the central Balkans, which witness an intensification with the exploitation of novel sources in the Carpathian Basin (Pernicka et al 1997;Schalk, 1998;Siklósi & Szilágyi, 2019;Siklósi et al 2015) (see also next section). The presence of increasing numbers of copper objects in the northern Alpine region (cf.…”

Creating Histories: Different Perspectives, Controversial Narratives at Rákóczifalva, an Early Copper Age Site on the Great Hungarian Plain

“…The composition and lead isotope ratio of the spiral bracelet pair from Grave F226/S335 were almost identical; presumably they were simultaneously made from one source, perhaps in Majdanpek or Ai Bunar (Figure 1), and brought to the Tisza region together. The higher concentration of arsenic in two daggers differentiate them from the rest of the analysed copper artefacts from the cemetery; their composition suggests Ai Bunar as a possible source (Siklósi & Szilágyi, 2019).…”

Technológiai megfigyelések a rákóczifalvi temető bifaciális levélhegyén

“…o.). Ez utóbbi leleteket archeometallurgiai vizsgálatnak is alávetették, melynek során bebizonyosodott, hogy a nyersanyaguk a szerbiai Majdanpek környékéről származik (Siklósi & Szilágyi, 2019).…”