Circulation of iron products in the North-Alpine area during the end of the first Iron Age (6 th -5 th c. BC): A combination of chemical and isotopic approaches

Philippe Dillmann (1, 2, 3) , Roland Schwab (4) , Sylvain Bauvais (1, 2, 3, 5) , Michael Brauns (4) , Alexandre Disser (1, 2, 3) , Stéphanie Leroy (1, 2, 3) , Guntram Gassmann (6) , Philippe Fluzin (2, 3)

1 LAPA - UMR 3685 - Laboratoire Archéomatériaux et Prévision de l'Altération
2 IRAMAT - LMC - IRAMAT - Laboratoire Métallurgies et Cultures
3 IRAMAT - Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux
4 Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archeaometrie
5 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
6 Landesamt für Denkmalpflege Baden-Württemberg

Os isotopic ratios and trace element approaches were used to compare the signatures of ore and slag from different potential production sites located in eastern France and South-West Germany with the signature of artefacts from the end of the first Iron Age. A set of 31 artefacts was tested, consisting of bipyramidal semi-products, chariot tires, blooms and other commodities. The complementarity of the two approaches is demonstrated. Bipartite bipyramidal semi-products made by assembling two crude masses of distinct origins are evidenced suggesting the existence of intermediate producing centres assembling products from different origins. Only the provenance of blooms and wheel-tires could be established as local. Two spheres of metal circulation were evidenced: prestige and local. Bipyramidal semi-products and chariot tires belong to different long distance distribution networks.

Domains: Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry

Philippe Dillmann, Roland Schwab, Sylvain Bauvais, Michael Brauns, Alexandre Disser, et al.. Circulation of iron products in the North-Alpine area during the end of the first Iron Age (6 th -5 th c. BC): A combination of chemical and isotopic approaches. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2017, 87, pp.108 - 124. ⟨10.1016/j.jas.2017.10.002⟩. ⟨cea-01622058⟩