L’inizio della seconda fase della coltivazione del rame nel Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol

Pearce, Mark; Bellintani, Paolo; Nicolis, Franco

Abstract

This paper examines our evidence for the date of the beginning of the second phase of copper production in the south-eastern Alps. Lead isotope analysis evidence for artefacts from North Germany and Scandinavia shows the presence in that area of objects made of south-east Alpine copper already in the 16th and in great numbers from the 15th century cal BC. This fits well with the available radiocarbon evidence that copper production in the south-eastern Alps recommences in the 15th, perhaps the 16th century cal BC. Lead isotope analysis also suggests the circulation of south-east Alpine copper in the Balkans from as early as 1600 BC. Crucibles from the south-west Trentino lake dwellings at Ledro (EBA or MBA) and Fiavé (MBA), and the presence of MBA and RBA artefacts made of south-east Alpine copper in the lake dwellings of the Lake Garda area provide a context and a proxy for copper production. We also suggest that the renewed copper production in the Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol region fits with the hypothesis that the Valli Grandi Veronesi polity was established in order to control the flow of copper; indeed, lead isotope data available in the literature shows that the metal used at Fondo Paviani (Legnago VR) was south-east Alpine. Finally, we examine the hypothesis that the apparent hiatus in metal production between the EBA and MBA is simply a product of insufficient archaeological data – this can be argued based on the finding of copper smelting slag at the site of Gardolo di Mezzo (Trento TN) in levels dated to the period when production was apparently paused, and on the fact that metalwork from the Lake Garda lake dwellings made of copper of south-east Alpine origin is found throughout the late EBA and early MBA.

Citation

Pearce, M., Bellintani, P., & Nicolis, F. (2021). L’inizio della seconda fase della coltivazione del rame nel Trentino – Alto Adige/Südtirol. In P. Bellintani, & E. Silvestri (Eds.), Fare Rame: La metallurgia primaria della tarda età del Bronzo in Trentino: nuovi scavi e stato dell’arte della ricerca sul campo (187-198). Provincia autonoma di Trento

• Online Publication Date: Oct 17, 2021
• Publication Date: Sep 24, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 7, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 17, 2021
• Pages: 187-198
• Book Title: Fare Rame: La metallurgia primaria della tarda età del Bronzo in Trentino: nuovi scavi e stato dell’arte della ricerca sul campo
• ISBN: 9788877025067
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4097790
• Publisher URL: https://www.cultura.trentino.it/Pubblicazioni/Fare-Rame
• Contract Date: Feb 14, 2020