The Composition and Microstructural Variation of the Bronze Age Metal Ornaments from Lower Silesia (South‐West Poland): Chemical Analytical and Archaeological Aspects |
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| Authors: | J. Puziewicz J. Baron Th. Ntaflos B. Miazga |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Wroc?aw, Wroc?aw, Poland;2. Institute of Archaeology, University of Wroc?aw, Wroc?aw, Poland;3. Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria |
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| Abstract: | Metal ornaments from Únětice (Mierczyce, Tomice, Jordanów and Opatowice) and Urnfield culture (Szprotawa, ?arek and Wroc?aw ?erniki) sites in south‐west Poland are made of bronze of varying composition, with the exception of the early Bronze Age Przec?awice site, where the copper items are found in graves from stages III/IV. The combined XRF and electron microprobe study of 37 ornaments (mostly pins) shows that those excavated from Únětice culture graves usually consist of cored dendrites, plus a Sb‐rich phase in some. The copper objects from Przec?awice correspond in composition to the East Alpine Copper or to the Ösenring copper and were produced from fahlore. Those from the Urnfield culture sites consist of homogeneous bronze. The Únětice culture ornaments were produced with little control of the effect of varying bronze composition on its microstructure. The results of XRF analyses of heterogeneous metal artefacts vary depending on the proportion of phases in the analysed site, and should be combined with micrometre‐scale analytical data and microstructural information yielded by electron microprobe methods. The same refers to deeply weathered or corroded objects made of homogeneous metal, which contain irregularly dispersed decomposition products. |
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| Keywords: | Ú ně tice culture Urnfield culture Bronze Age South‐West Poland Bronze Copper Microstructure Chemical composition |
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