New data on the provenance of copper finds from the Early-Middle Copper Age of the Great Hungarian Plain

Abstract

The completely excavated settlement and cemetery of Rákóczifalva-Bivaly-tó Site 1/C provide a unique opportunity to study the copper artefacts and the question of local metallurgy on the Great Hungarian Plain in the Early-Middle Copper Age (4350–4000 cal BC). Although the cemetery is rich in metal finds, no traces of local metallurgy were found in the settlement. The results of chemical compositional analysis revealed that the copper finds were made of pure copper; their compositions were very similar to each other, except for two daggers which contained a higher amount of arsenic and silver. The lead isotope analysis (LIA) suggested that the raw material of axes and spiral bracelets likely derives from the Balkans, most probably from Majdanpek and from the present-day Central Bulgaria. Furthermore, a currently unknown source has to be taken into consideration in the case of a large bracelet. The majority of copper finds in the cemetery occurred together with Bodrogkeresztúr-style pottery, and these may be contemporary with the Krivodol-Sălcuţa-Bubanj Hum complex. This points to the fact that the Great Hungarian Plain belonged to the Central Balkan copper supply network.