Gift for the gods or scrapping over scrap metal? Metallographic examination of sword fragments from the Late Bronze Age hoard from Slavonski Brod, Croatia
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M. L. Perez Gonzalez
Maria Luisa Perez Gonzalez born in 1995 in Madrid, Spain, graduated with Bachelor in Archaeology from the University Complutense of Madrid and completed her M.Sc. in Scientific Archaeology at the University of Tübingen. She has chosen the specialisation Archaeo-metallurgy and her Master thesis was about the technology and provenance of Roman iron.Roland Schwab has been scientific director of the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie in Mannheim for several years and is now Apl. Professor at the University of Tübingen and head of the Archae-ometry lab at the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie in Mainz. His research focuses on the characterization and interpretation of ancient metals and metallurgical processes.
Abstract
The deposition of metal in hoards appear throughout the European Bronze Age and there is on-going dispute about motivations behind the practice of hoarding metals at that period. Therefore, nine fragments of bronze swords from a late Bronze Age hoard have been investigated by metallography and X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF) in order to evaluate their conditions. The objects do not show compositional deviations from contemporaneous material, but they are of poor quality showing considerable casting defects and pronounced dendritic segregation. They may never have been finished. Nonetheless, the reasons for their destruction and burial do not become evident.
Kurzfassung
Das Ablegen von Metall in Erddepots war im gesamten bronzezeitlichen Europa verbreitet und über die Motivation hinter der Vergrabung von Metallen wird noch immer debattiert. Aus einem Hortfund der Spätbronzezeit wurden daher neun Fragmente von Bronzeschwertern zur Beurteilung ihres jeweiligen Zustandes metallographisch und mittels energiedispersiver Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse untersucht. Die Gegenstände zeigen in ihrer Zusammensetzung keine Abweichungen von anderem Material aus dieser Zeit, sind jedoch aufgrund von ausgeprägten Gussfehlern und dendritischen Seigerungen von minderer Qualität und möglicherweise nie vollendet worden. Die Gründe für ihre Zerstörung und Vergrabung lassen sich dennoch nicht eindeutig klären.
About the authors
Maria Luisa Perez Gonzalez born in 1995 in Madrid, Spain, graduated with Bachelor in Archaeology from the University Complutense of Madrid and completed her M.Sc. in Scientific Archaeology at the University of Tübingen. She has chosen the specialisation Archaeo-metallurgy and her Master thesis was about the technology and provenance of Roman iron.
Roland Schwab has been scientific director of the Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie in Mannheim for several years and is now Apl. Professor at the University of Tübingen and head of the Archae-ometry lab at the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie in Mainz. His research focuses on the characterization and interpretation of ancient metals and metallurgical processes.
5 Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Susanne Greiff, Christian Eckmann and Dr. Jörg Drauschke from the RGZM who have provided the material and allowed the destructive investigation. We would also thank the Tschira Foundation for financial support.
5 Danksagung
Die Autoren danken Prof. Dr. Susanne Greiff, Christian Eckmann und Dr. Jörg Drauschke vom RGZM, die die Objekte zur Verfügung gestellt und der zerstörenden Untersuchung zugestimmt haben. Ebenso danken die Autoren der Tschira-Stiftung für die finanzielle Unterstützung.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- Editorial
- Dear readers,
- Microscopic Characterization of Compound Layers
- Gift for the gods or scrapping over scrap metal? Metallographic examination of sword fragments from the Late Bronze Age hoard from Slavonski Brod, Croatia
- Failure Analysis
- High Cycle Fatigue Failure of a Turbocharger Wheel
- Picture of the Month
- Picture of the Month
- News
- Blechwerkstoffe auf dem virtuellen Prüfstand
- Meeting Dairy
- Meeting Diary
Articles in the same Issue
- Contents
- Editorial
- Dear readers,
- Microscopic Characterization of Compound Layers
- Gift for the gods or scrapping over scrap metal? Metallographic examination of sword fragments from the Late Bronze Age hoard from Slavonski Brod, Croatia
- Failure Analysis
- High Cycle Fatigue Failure of a Turbocharger Wheel
- Picture of the Month
- Picture of the Month
- News
- Blechwerkstoffe auf dem virtuellen Prüfstand
- Meeting Dairy
- Meeting Diary
