Metal Finds (Archaeology)

Radomír Pleiner’s death in January 2015 marked the end of an era. For sixty years he was one of the key figures in the study of early iron working, as demonstrated by his remarkable publication record of 12 books and over 250 papers. He was the founder member of the CPSA and remained its secretary for over forty years. An obituary was printed in the Spring 2015 issue of The Crucible, outlining his career and achievements, but it was decided that a longer, and less formal, celebration of his life and work should also be prepared. The tributes which follow include a number of personal reminiscences from the golden years of Radomír’s career, which are in a roughly chronological order, as well as a few thematic items. They are all a clear demonstration of the affection in which Radomír was held, of how widely his inspiration and influence were felt by his friends and colleagues and how they are still felt by succeeding generations. His lasting legacy will undoubtedly be his two magisterial books, Iron in Archaeology: The European Bloomery Smelters (2000) and Iron in Archaeology: Early European Blacksmiths (2006) which formed a fitting conclusion to his long and uniquely successful career. However, for those who had the privilege of knowing and working with Radomír it will be for his human qualities that he will be long remembered.

Compiled by Peter Crew and Jiří Hošek. Contributions by Szymon Orzechowski, Elzbieta Nosek, Vladimir Zavyalov, Henry Cleere, Thilo Rehren, Henriette Lyngstrøm, Brian G. Scott, Věra Souchopová, János Gömöri, Lars F. Stenvik, Michel Mangin,  Philippe Fluzin, Eva Hjärthner-Holdar, Christina Risberg, Peter and Susan Crew, Philippe Andrieux, Jiří Hošek, Vincent Serneels, Brian Gilmour, Janet Lang.

Metall i form av föremål, mynt och slaggprodukter är ett viktigt arkeologiskt källmaterial. Det är en källa till förståelse av allt från handel, rituella aktiviteter, hantverk och smide till konstruktionen av identiteter i det förflutna. Som material betraktat har metall även egenskaper som gör det tekniskt möjligt att spåra den under jord genom metalldetektering. Kunskapen om kulturarvet kan ökas och fördjupas genom samarbete med de entusiaster som ut­övar metalldetektering som hobby. Dessvärre motverkar regleringen av metalldetektering en sådan utveckling. Därför tog Örebro läns museum initiativ till ett seminarium kring hur samarbetet mellan metalldetekterare, arkeologer och forskare kan utvecklas. Texterna i antologin är en rapport från detta tillfälle, och belyser på olika sätt möjligheterna en ökad samverkan ger samt behovet av förändrade attityder. Samverkan med personer som vill använda metalldetektor, för att söka efter spår av forntida människor, har två syften. För det första att på ett ordnat sätt öka den arkeologiska kunskapen om det förflutna, för det andra att ge både metallsökarentusiaster och allmänhet en direktkontakt med forntiden. Vår förhoppning är att boken ger konstruktiva uppslag för att realisera dessa syften.

This article presents the results of the first-ever lead isotope (LI) analysis of copper-based archaeological artefacts found in the region of Finland. Eight metal objects recovered from the Iron Age water burial site of Levänluhta in western Finland were analysed via multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) and portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) in order to attain geochemical and LI data. The majority of the objects are Merovingian period (ca. 550-800 CE) jewellery, displaying domestic Iron Age artefact styles, and were probably cast by local workshops in Finland. Until recently, the copper exploited in Bronze and Iron Age metallurgy in Finland had been linked to Scandinavian ores. However, this provenance scenario seems implausible in the light of recent LI studies demonstrating that Scandinavian Bronze Age artisans in fact relied on long-distance metal transport. Comparisons between the LI data of the analysed objects and published ore databases exclude the possibility of a domestic or Scandinavian copper source for the metals. Instead, it appears likely that the copper originated from southern European ores. The low arsenic and antimony levels in the copper alloys provide indication of long recycling patterns of the metals used in the Iron Age workshops in Finland. It is possible that the Iron Age artefacts contain recycled copper-alloys already acquired in the Bronze Age. The metals were transported for long distances, and it appears that the pan-European metal circulation network also crossed the Baltic Sea to reach coastal Finland.

The village of Pet Mogili is located in the southern part of the Nova Zagora plain, where it reaches the lower ground between the Svetiiliiski and Monastery Hills and connects with the low parts of the relief in the neighbouring Tundzha geomorphological region (Fig. 1–2).
Looters excavated the barrow in the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006. On the top of the mound, they dug a rectangular trench, 2 m wide, 4 m long and 5.50 m deep (Fig. 4). Various artefacts were found in the soil from the ditch: fragments of various ceramic vessels (including black-glazed wares, both Thracian grey-colour wheel-made and handmade vases, amphorae), parts of iron objects (including a fragment of a spearhead), many pieces of wooden beams, and flakes of bronze. In the western part of ditch, the looters unearthed a wooden structure that continues towards the base of the mound. Because of this attemted intervention in the barrow, The National Institute for Monuments of Culture and the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria organized a committee, on to the barrow. The commission which decided that o be made rescue excavations should be organized of the already demolished burial structure. Thus, at the beginning of 2006, rescue investigations of the mound were undertaken.
The tumulus is part of a necropolis that comprises four mounds in the Golyamata Mogila (Large Mound) locality (Fig. 5–6). The Large Tumulus (Fig. 7) is the largest, about 50 m in diameter and with a maximum height of about 6 m (elevation 178 m). The investigations focused on the southwestern quadrant of the barrow, that covered the looted burial structure.
Stratigraphy (Fig. 8–9)
A mound of homogeneous black soil with an approximate diameter of 26 m and height 2, 30 m was piled on the top of the hill. On top of it, there were split stones of various size (from very small to very large) and potsherds (primarily amphorae). The next layer is of a black soil (probably ancient chernozem), with an approximate diameter of 23–24 m and 1.80 m high in the central part. Over the second layer, a layer of different colour and texture follows, predominantly of white clay with crumbly blue-green stones. Streaks of grayish-whitish earth interspersed with lumps of black earth could be seen in this layer. This embankment has an approximate diameter of 36–40 m and a maximum height of 2.50 m. The height of 1.30 m in the central part indicates that the mound has spread over time. No artefacts were found in these layers. On the top, there is a layer of grey-brown soil, 0.40–0.50 m thick, while in the parts where there were later digs (by looters or others) it reaches a depth of 1.00–1.20 m.
Features
The excavation revealed ten graves in the top layer of the mound (southwestern quadrant), at depths between 0.10 and 0.50 m (Fig. 10). Probably, the deceased were laid in plain pits. The bodies were in extended supine position with folded arms and heads to the west (Fig. 11). In one of the graves, traces of a 0,60 m wide wooden coffin were revealed grave goods. The exact date of the burials cannot be determined, but all graves are Christian. The looted burial structure (no. 11, Fig. 12) was built on an already existing small mound, probably from the Bronze Age. Three pits were dug into one another at the top of that mound. The first one is oval-shaped with measurements of 5.50 x 7.20 m and a depth of 0.80 m. The second pit is rectangular with sloping walls, maximum dimensions of 3.50 x 4.50 m and depth of 0.40 m.
The third and smallest pit is also rectangular dug in the bottom of the second one, with dimensions 1.50 x 2.70 m and 0.25 m deep. A wooden sarcophagus (Figs. 12–13) was built in the third pit. The sarcophagus was destroyed by the looters almost entirely. Separate parts of its base and the vertical walls were preserved in situ (Figs. 13–15). According to the preserved wooden pieces, the dimensions of the sarcophagus were 2.65 x 1.30 m. The wooden sarcophagus is extremely crudely built of massive oak planks. On the planks of the floor, there were traces of white powder (?) (Fig. 15). The deceased was cremated outside of the grave and the burnt remains were laid in the wooden sarcophagus. Then the grave goods were placed in the sarcophagus and it was probably closed with a cover of wooden beams. Then the pit was filled with split stones, rising to a height of 0.70 m and forming a small mound. Over the stone tumulus, there was a cover, probably of perishable materials – wood, wattle, etc. Thereby, the soil could not seep between the stones and an airtight chamber was formed enabling the preservation of the wood.
Funerary rituals were performed above the stone mound and around it in a radius of about 10 m. Potsherds (including amphorae, red-figure pottery, grey monochrome ceramic vessels and handmade pots), burnt bone fragments and small charcoals were discovered between the stones of the mound (Figs. 16–17). A mound of chernozem and white soil was piled above the ritual platform.
Grave no. 12 is of interest (Fig. 18). It is cremation carried outside the tumulus. The burnt remains were collected, cleaned (probably washed) and placed in a ceramic vessel (cinerary urn), buried in the mound. The homogeneity of the mound in this part makes it difficult to determine whether the container was placed in a separate pit or in the one dug for the Grave no. 11. The grave is associated with the rich burial No. 11, which is apparent from the intact ritual platform above it and the sherds of krater-like vessels that are near the urn and the ritual platform. In the cinerary urn, parts of two highly corroded iron fibulae and an iron knife were found mixed with the cremated bones.
Grave no. 11
The vast majority of the finds were revealed in a fragmented state, overlooked or neglected by the robbers.
Weaponry
The elements of the offensive weapons and the armour of the deceased warrior were unearthed in the western part of the wooden sarcophagus.
Offensive weapons
In the grave, numerous pieces of a sword were found. Its type cannot be precisely determined because of their fragmentation and active corrosion. Judging by separate elements, it could be assumed that the fragments belong to a machaira, xiphos or akinakes (Cat.no. 11.1; Fig. 21). More fragments of spearheads were found (Cat.nos. 11.2–3; Fig. 22, 1) with a preserved part of the wooden shaft in one of the sockets (Fig. 22, 1-б); a spear-butt (σαυρωτήρ) (Cat.no. 11.4; Fig. 22, 2); two types of arrowheads, some with wooden shafts coloured in red (Cat.no. 11.5; Fig. 23–24); several shafts of arrows that became stuck to a metal object that is not related to them (Fig. 24, 1); as well as fragments of a scabbard or sword handle (Fig. 32, 2).
Armour
In the Pet Mogili burial, there were also iron scales (Cat. no. 11.6, Fig. 25–27) that belong to an object that is not fully preserved or deposited in its entirety. The scales are applied to leather (Fig. 25). The typological and chronological similarity between the scales from Gorski Izvor and Pet Mogili as well as the undertaken analysis indicate that the piece of armour placed in the Large Tumulus near the village of Pet Mogili is a scale helmet.The elongated-conical shape and dimensions (total height c. 35–40 cm) of the object support its identification as a scale helmet (Fig. 26). Apart from the chronology of the burial and the use of specific types of armour during this period, another primary argument for interpreting the object, as a scale helmet is a bimetal (gold and iron) socket (Cat.no. 11.7, Fig. 27, 1). The object is hollow; and was attached to another part, resembling a small stand (Fig. 27, 1). A scale helmet in Vasil Bojkov Collection has a similar socket (Marazov 2011, 94, Cat.no. 6, Marazov and others 2012, 141, 158, Cat.no. 6). Onthe helmet from the private collection, this extra piece is mounted at the top of the calotte, as is the case with the Pet Mogli helmet (Figs. 26, 2; 27, 2). The small size (length 6 cm, see Cat.no.11.7), the shape and the place of the object, as well as the similar example in Vasil Bojkov Collection give us reason to identify the shaft from Pet Mogili as an element on the calotte of the scale helmet used by the warrior. The discovery of bell cuirass elements in the Large Tumulus near the village of Pet Mogili is also one of the main arguments that a scale helmet was placed in Grave 11. We suppose that elements from a bell cuirass were preserved in the grave on the base of an iron fragment (No. 11.8, Fig. 28, 1). The piece is the most
specific detail of the bell cuirass conical extension.....

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Isolated finds of Bronze Age metal objects documented in South Bohemia in 2017-2020. In the article, new isolated Bronze Age metal finds are published which have been documented in the territory of South Bohemia over the last about five years and which have not been published anywhere else. These are 137 bronze or copper artefacts from 128 sites which are dateable to all chronological phases of the Bronze Age. Some of them are quite unique in South Bohemia, with analogies in other Central European regions. Several artefacts were subjected to spectral analysis in order to determine their chemical composition. A spearhead from Horažďovice was also subjected to traceological analysis. In addition to an enrichment of the typological spectrum of artefacts, these discoveries in some cases also proved human activities in regions regarded as uninhabited or only sporadically utilized. Thus the presented article clearly shows the importance and significance of documentation and rescue of these unique fi nds. Their interpretive value is lower than that of those made in settlement, funerary or hoard contexts, but they are definitely not without importance for our knowledge of prehistoric settlement and human activities in the region.