Current Issues in Archeology: Bronze Age Metallurgy in Western and Central Balkans

Mario Gavranović (Östrerreichisches Archäologisches Institut)

The lecture will present data from the research projects “Bronze Age metal-producing societies” (FWF, pr. no. P32095) and “Tracking the Routes” (FWF, pr. no. PAT4481823) dealing with the Bronze Age metallurgy in the territories of the western (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia) and the central (Serbia, North Macedonia) Balkans. The obtained results substantially changed our understanding of raw material networks and domestic metal production. Despite previous assumption about the exploitation of abundant local copper sources during the Bronze Age, our investigations confirmed that copper was produced only in the region of Eastern Serbia in the time between 2000 and 1600 BC. Thanks to the research of associated urn cemeteries, we also gained a much better insight into the local metal producing communities of this area. The picture fundamentally changed from 1600 BC onwards as local copper production in Eastern Serbia rapidly ceased. The copper from Alpine regions in north Italy and Austria entered the Balkans and became a dominant source for thriving Bronze Age metallurgy in the region. This result points to establishment of new exchange networks. Our project examined several hundred Late Bronze Age objects using chemical and lead isotope analyses, including slags, ingots and finished products of different typologies and distributions. Regardless of their function or chronology, most objects show a geochemical signature consistent with copper deposits in Alps and in particular with Southeastern Alps (Trentino). The present work focuses on how and when the copper from Alps came to the Balkans and how supply networks for the local workshops developed throughout the 2^nd millennium BC.