Sampling of Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age gold artifacts from the Carpathian Basin and neighboring regions

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Gold artifacts from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age from the Carpathian region, stored in Vienna and Schleswig, were examined at the Curt Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry in Mannheim, using laser ablation, among other methods. The aim was to determine the specific chemical composition of the artifacts examined, which would allow conclusions to be drawn about a presumed common production and potential gold deposits from which the gold used to manufacture the artifacts was extracted. The hoped-for result was to verify or falsify the attribution of artifacts of uncertain provenance to known find complexes. Corresponding evidence was provided.

In addition, the results are being incorporated into an ongoing basic research project on gold deposits in Europe and their specific chemical characteristics.

Publication:

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C. Metzner-Nebelsick/E. Pernicka, Two 8th century BCE gold hoards from Mikhal’kiv, Ukraine, and comparable finds. Their context, composition and results of a laser ablation and QICP-MS analysis. In: K. Grömer A. Krenn-Leeb und M. Binder (Hrsg.), Prähistorisches Gold. Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien 154, 2024, 193-206.