Shaft‐hole Axes From Caput Adriae: Mineralogical and Chemical Constraints About the Provenance of Serpentinitic Artefacts*

Abstract

The change of raw materials used to produce stone axes during the Neolithic to Copper Age transition in northeastern Italy, central and western Slovenia and northwestern Croatia (Caput Adriae) has been recently linked to the development of early European metallurgy. Serpentinite shaft‐hole axes occur commonly in the archaeological context of this region and their rounded irregular shape suggests that the raw material was mainly sourced from secondary deposits. The aim of the present study is to characterize with multiple analytical methods, including synchrotron radiation, the axes and locate the primary outcrop(s) of raw materials and related secondary exploitation areas. All the analysed artefacts are manufactured from peridotites and probably pyroxenites completely metamorphosed in greenschist facies and characterized by antigorite, diopside and magnetite, sometimes rimmed by penninite. Mineralogical and petrographic data exclude most Eastern Alps outcrops as possible raw material sources, thus limiting the research to the Hohe Tauern. Chemical data reveal a close homogeneity for the peridotite‐derived axes and therefore demonstrate a selection of the most suitable raw material for axe production. Provenance from Hohe Tauern and related secondary deposits of the Drava River hydrographical system agrees with previous studies, as this region is rich in copper ore deposits, which have been exploited since prehistory.

Synchrotron Ftir Micro-Spectroscopy Applied to the Study of Polished Serpentinite Artefacts: A Non-Destructive Analytical Approach

“…1). Serpentinite axes are recorded in many archaeological contexts in America, Europe and Asia, and are important elements for the reconstruction of ancient exchange/trade networks (George and Fischer 1999; Stroulia 2003; Habu and Wright 2004; D'Amico 2005; Bernardini et al . 2010).…”

Copper Age axe-hammers, other tools and their raw materials in the sub-Apenninic area east of Bologna (Italy)

“…2d) or with an elongated triangular shape and a rounded butt (Fig. 2c), are much more common in Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, in NE Italy, and Slovenia: D'Amico et al 1996;Bernardini 2007Bernardini -2008Bernardini et al 2011Bernardini et al , 2012Bernardini et al , 2014Schmid 1910;Koršec and Koršec 1969;Lubšina-Tušek 1993;Velušček 2004) and resulted to be manufactured from various metamorphic rock, in particular serpentinites and volcanics. Contacts and consequent circulation of these models in the trans-Adriatic area appear evident from the second half of the 4th millennium BC (Cazzella 2003).…”

“…in ''Caput Adriae'' (NE Italy and Slovenia; e.g. D' Amico et al 1996Amico et al , 2001Bernardini et al 2011) serpentinites were widely exploited also for manufacturing hammer axes.…”

The provenance of serpentinite tools in the Corded Ware culture of Moravia (Czech Republic)

“…The serpentinites of Bernstein show dif fer ent lev els of serpentini sation, rang ing from partly serpentinized peri dot ites to fully serpentinized rocks. Some of them are lizarditic serpentinites with pseudomorphic micro struc tures and some are antigoritic serpentinites with inter lock ing microstructure (Bernardini et al, 2010).…”