Metallurgy in the Early Bronze defensive settlement in Bruszczewo, site 5, Śmigiel commune, Kościan district: One more step on the way to the synthesis
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Date
2021-12
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Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
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Abstract
Long-term excavations carried out in the defensive settlement of the Únětice Culture in
Bruszczewo (Śmigiel commune, Kościan district) have resulted in an abundant assemblage of
artefacts related to metallurgy. These represent various ready-made products (i.e., ornaments,
tools, and weapons), as well as some scrap prepared for smelting. Other finds included
smelting by-products (metal prills/droplets) and unfinished and never used artefacts with
preserved casting seams. Also, the artefact assemblage recorded at this site connected with
metallurgy but made of other materials is unique in Europe. In this context, it is worth mentioning:
tuyeres, melting pots, and clay footings, as well as a stone casting mould used for making
open bracelets. This article presents an analysis and a description of these finds. The metal
artefacts were analysed on the basis of the results of a metallurgical study, to which almost
all metals recorded in Bruszczewo were subjected. Also, the applied chronological frame was
based on the types of metal typical of the Únětice culture. The significant number of artefacts
and their multi-aspect, archaeological and metallurgical analyses, place Bruszczewo among
the key points on the map of knowledge of Early Bronze metallurgy on our continent. Moreover,
this article indicates that the presented site offers great research potential that can be used in
further studies into prehistoric metallurgical knowledge, including technological innovations.
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Keywords
metallurgy, Bruszczewo, Early Bronze Age, Únětice Culture, metallurgical knowledge
Citation
Treasures of Time: Research of the Faculty of Archaeology of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (2021) D. Żurkiewicz (Ed.). pp. 272-285.
ISBN
978-83-946591-9-6