Frattesina and the later Bronze Age – Early Iron Age metals trade: the absolute chronology of smelting sites in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol

Pearce, Mark; Bellintani, Paolo; Nicolis, Franco

Abstract

We present 15 new 14C dates for copper smelting sites in the Trentino, together with 31 published dates for smelting sites in the region. Smelting may have already begun in the sixteenth century cal BC and continued until the ninth century cal BC. This suggests a new historical model, in which the twelfth-ninth centuries BC site of Frattesina, an important trans-shipment node between continental Europe and the Mediterranean and manufacturing site, is at the centre of the metals trade of the final Bronze Age and early Iron Age, rather than subsidiary to Etruria mineraria. Frattesina uses copper from the southern Alps, which is traded to peninsular Italy but also to Greece (probably as finished artefacts), while the metal production of Etruria mineraria is seen to be rather less important.

Citation

Pearce, M., Bellintani, P., & Nicolis, F. (2020). Frattesina and the later Bronze Age – Early Iron Age metals trade: the absolute chronology of smelting sites in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol. Padusa, Bollettino del Centro Polesano, 55, 67-86

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 15, 2019
• Publication Date: Jun 10, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 25, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 11, 2021
• Journal: Padusa, Bolleteino de Centro Polesano
• Print ISSN: 0393-0149
• Electronic ISSN: 1724-0573
• Publisher: Fabrizio Serra editore
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Pages: 67-86
• Keywords: Radiocarbon dating; Frattesina; Copper smelting, South Alpine copper mining
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1115262
• Additional Information: The journal Padusa, Bollettino del Centro Polesano is now published by now published by SAP Società Archeologica s.r.l. of Quingentole (Mantova, Italy) on behalf of the Centro Polesano di Studi Storici, Archeologici ed Etnografici.