First Metallurgy in Northern Europe: An Early Neolithic Crucible and a Possible Tuyère from Lønt, Denmark. (February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gebauer, Anne Birgitte; Sørensen, Lasse Vilien; Taube, Michelle; Wielandt, Daniel Kim Peel
• Is Part Of: European journal of archaeology. Volume 24:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 27
• Page End: 47
• Publication Date: 2021-02
• Subjects: metallurgy, -- copper, -- crucible, -- Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture, -- Denmark, -- X-ray fluorescence analysis; métallurgie, -- cuivre, -- creuset, -- Néolithique ancien, -- culture des gobelets en entonnoir (culture TRB), -- Danemark, -- spectrométrie de fluorescence des rayons X; Metallurgie, -- Kupfer, -- Schmelztiegel, -- Frühneolithikum, -- Trichterbecherkultur, -- Dänemark, -- Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse; Archaeology -- Europe -- Periodicals; Europe -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; 936.005
• DOI: 10.1017/eaa.2019.73
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-9571

Abstract

Abstract : In this article we present the fragments of a crucible and a possible tuyère that provide evidence of early copper metallurgy in Scandinavia at least 1500 years earlier than previously thought. The technical ceramics were found in a cultural layer containing Early Neolithic Funnel Beaker pottery dating to around 3800–3500 bc beneath a long barrow dating to 3300–3100 bc . The presence of a copper alloy in the crucible is confirmed by three independent X-ray fluorescence analyses using both a hand-held and a stationary instrument, SEM-EDS analysis of a cross-section, as well as a Bruker Tornado μ-X-Ray-fluorescence scanner (μ-XRF). The transmission of metallurgy to southern Scandinavia coincided with the introduction of long barrows, causewayed enclosures, two-aisled houses, and certain types of artefacts. Thus, metallurgy seems to be part of the new networks that enabled the establishment of a fully Neolithic society.