Physical Barriers, Cultural Connections: A Reconsideration of the Metal Flow at the Beginning of the Metal Age in the Alps
By (author) Laura Perucchetti
Paperback (Published)
(June 2017)
ISBN: 9781784916145
8.07 x 11.46 inches
Price: $70.00
In stock
This book considers the early copper and copper-alloy metallurgy of the entire Circum- Alpine region. It introduces a new approach to the interpretation of chemical composition data sets, which has been applied to a comprehensive regional database for the first time.
Physical Barriers, Cultural Connections: A Reconsideration of the Metal Flow at the Beginning of the Metal Age in the Alps considers the early copper and copper-alloy metallurgy of the entire Circum- Alpine region. It introduces a new approach to the interpretation of chemical composition data sets, which has been applied to a comprehensive regional database for the first time. An extensive use of GIS has been applied to investigate the role of topography in the distribution of metal and to undertake spatial and geostastical analysis that may highlight patterns of distribution of some specific key compositional element. The Circum-Alpine Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age show some distinctively different patterns of metal use, which can be interpreted through changes in mining and social choices. But there are also some signs of continuity, in particular those which respect the use of major landscape features such as watersheds and river systems. Interestingly, the Alpine range does not act as a north-south barrier, as major differences in composition tend to appear on an east-west axis. Conversely, the river system seems to have a key role in the movement of metal. Geostastical analyses demonstrate the presence of a remelting process, applicable also in the case of ingots; evidence that opens new and interesting questions about the role of ingots and hoards in the distribution of metal at the beginning of the Metal Age. New tools and new analysis may also be useful to identify zones where there was a primary metal production and zones where metal was mostly received and heavily manipulated.
Laura Perucchetti is a researcher at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at the University of Oxford. She is part of a team that is working on metal flows across Eurasia, where she is the database and GIS expert. She completed her undergraduate studies in Archaeology at the University of Milan, and her BA thesis was on the creation of a database encompassing all archaeological finds of the Bronze Age from the Italian province of Veneto. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Earth Science at the University of Milan, based on her analysis of Copper and Early Bronze Age metal artefacts found in hoards and on sites of Northern Italy. After working for two years in commercial archaeology she successfully completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford with a thesis in which she used a combination of GIS an chemical data on metal artefacts to understand the movement of metal across the Alps. This book is derived from that work. In her career, Laura has won several student awards, participated in international conferences and published an article in the European Journal of Archaeology. She is actively contributing to the lab work of the RLAHA in teaching, organizing seminars and arranging lab space.
- By (author) Laura Perucchetti
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