Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia
Abstract
Mining of metallic raw materials and the knowledge of the ore processing technology represent one of the key turning points in human history, which changed dramatically not only the economy of the prehistoric societies but also worldviews in general. Relatively frequent finds of malachite lumps and beads, discovered at several Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites across Serbia show that the prehistoric artisans were already familiar with the technical traits of these raw materials. Prehistoric metallurgy was invented in the Late Neolithic Vinča culture in Serbia, c. 5000 BC. The first exploitation of the carbonate copper ores (malachite, azurite) is confirmed on the prehistoric mine of Rudna Glava near Majdanpek. The production of copper and later bronze objects gradually increased through the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age. This increase in the production of objects must have been followed by an increase in ore exploitation. However, it is still unknown which mines were active during t...he post-Vinča metal ages. In this poster will be presented the methodological framework for a multi-disciplinary approach to the search of the traces of prehistoric copper mining on the territory of Serbia and some of the preliminary results. In order to reconstruct the system of the copper ore acquiring, a detailed survey of all so far known copper sources on the territory of Serbia is needed. Beside ground-field survey, the studies should include the use of the LIDAR technology. This method already provided positive results in finding the traces of early mining activities in Bulgaria. The next step is creating the comprehensive database which will enable correlating diverse analyses of prehistoric copper and bronze objects from one side and samples obtained from the mines from the other.
Keywords:
Prehistoric copper mining / methodology / multi-disciplinary approach / prehistoric copper mines in SerbiaSource:
6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018, 2018, 51-52Publisher:
- Zagreb : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb
- Zagreb : Croatian Archaeological Society
Funding / projects:
- Serbian archaeology: cultural identity, integration factors, technological processes and the role of the central Balkans in the development of European prehistory (RS-MESTD-Basic Research (BR or ON)-177020)
Note:
- I. Miloglav (ed.), Book of abstracts of 6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, 6th ‒ 7th December 2018, Zagreb, Croatia
Collections
Institution/Community
Археолошки институт / Institute of ArchaeologyTY - CONF AU - Antonović, Dragana AU - Vitezović, Selena AU - Dimić, Vidan PY - 2018 UR - http://rai.ai.ac.rs/handle/123456789/807 AB - Mining of metallic raw materials and the knowledge of the ore processing technology represent one of the key turning points in human history, which changed dramatically not only the economy of the prehistoric societies but also worldviews in general. Relatively frequent finds of malachite lumps and beads, discovered at several Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites across Serbia show that the prehistoric artisans were already familiar with the technical traits of these raw materials. Prehistoric metallurgy was invented in the Late Neolithic Vinča culture in Serbia, c. 5000 BC. The first exploitation of the carbonate copper ores (malachite, azurite) is confirmed on the prehistoric mine of Rudna Glava near Majdanpek. The production of copper and later bronze objects gradually increased through the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age. This increase in the production of objects must have been followed by an increase in ore exploitation. However, it is still unknown which mines were active during the post-Vinča metal ages. In this poster will be presented the methodological framework for a multi-disciplinary approach to the search of the traces of prehistoric copper mining on the territory of Serbia and some of the preliminary results. In order to reconstruct the system of the copper ore acquiring, a detailed survey of all so far known copper sources on the territory of Serbia is needed. Beside ground-field survey, the studies should include the use of the LIDAR technology. This method already provided positive results in finding the traces of early mining activities in Bulgaria. The next step is creating the comprehensive database which will enable correlating diverse analyses of prehistoric copper and bronze objects from one side and samples obtained from the mines from the other. PB - Zagreb : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb PB - Zagreb : Croatian Archaeological Society C3 - 6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018 T1 - Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia EP - 52 SP - 51 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_807 ER -
@conference{ author = "Antonović, Dragana and Vitezović, Selena and Dimić, Vidan", year = "2018", abstract = "Mining of metallic raw materials and the knowledge of the ore processing technology represent one of the key turning points in human history, which changed dramatically not only the economy of the prehistoric societies but also worldviews in general. Relatively frequent finds of malachite lumps and beads, discovered at several Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites across Serbia show that the prehistoric artisans were already familiar with the technical traits of these raw materials. Prehistoric metallurgy was invented in the Late Neolithic Vinča culture in Serbia, c. 5000 BC. The first exploitation of the carbonate copper ores (malachite, azurite) is confirmed on the prehistoric mine of Rudna Glava near Majdanpek. The production of copper and later bronze objects gradually increased through the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age. This increase in the production of objects must have been followed by an increase in ore exploitation. However, it is still unknown which mines were active during the post-Vinča metal ages. In this poster will be presented the methodological framework for a multi-disciplinary approach to the search of the traces of prehistoric copper mining on the territory of Serbia and some of the preliminary results. In order to reconstruct the system of the copper ore acquiring, a detailed survey of all so far known copper sources on the territory of Serbia is needed. Beside ground-field survey, the studies should include the use of the LIDAR technology. This method already provided positive results in finding the traces of early mining activities in Bulgaria. The next step is creating the comprehensive database which will enable correlating diverse analyses of prehistoric copper and bronze objects from one side and samples obtained from the mines from the other.", publisher = "Zagreb : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, Zagreb : Croatian Archaeological Society", journal = "6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018", title = "Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia", pages = "52-51", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_807" }
Antonović, D., Vitezović, S.,& Dimić, V.. (2018). Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia. in 6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018 Zagreb : Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb., 51-52. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_807
Antonović D, Vitezović S, Dimić V. Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia. in 6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018. 2018;:51-52. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_807 .
Antonović, Dragana, Vitezović, Selena, Dimić, Vidan, "Tracing the evidence of prehistoric copper mining in Serbia" in 6th International Scientific Conference Methodology & Archaeometry, Zagreb, 6th - 7th December 2018 (2018):51-52, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_rai_807 .