Journal
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 38, Issue 6, Pages 1221-1233Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.12.016
Keywords
Early bronze age; Valais (Switzerland); Copper artefacts; Copper ores; Material provenance; Database; Lead isotope ratios; Elemental composition; ICP-MS inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; LA laser ablation
Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [PP001-102710, PBGEP-123575]
- Action COST [05.0082]
- Fondation Ernst & Lucie Schmidheiny
- Fondation Dr Ignace Marietan
- Fondation Marc Birkigt
- Direction regionale des affaires culturelles, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
- Swiss National Museum in Zurich
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Ten Early Bronze Age (BzA1, 2200-2000 BC) copper artefacts from the central Valais region from Switzerland were studied for their elemental composition and lead isotope ratios. In order to answer the archaeological question of a local copper supply, a database for copper minerals across the Valais (Switzerland) has been established. This database contains 69 data on lead isotope ratios as well as additional information on the minerals and geochemical associations for copper minerals from 38 locations in the Valais. Comparisons of the artefacts were also made with data pertaining to minerals from various deposits from Europe and Anatolia taken from the literature. The provenance of the materials is very diverse. Some of the data are compatible with the data from the copper mineral deposits of the Valais region. Moreover, three copper lunulae were identified as possibly Tuscan, which suggests contacts between Italy and the Valais region. This pattern also establishes a multiplicity of provenances for the metal and cultural influences in the Alpine environment of the Rhone Valley of Switzerland at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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