La metalurgia de la necrópolis siciliana del bronce final/primera edad del hierro de Madonna del piano (Catania, Sicilia)

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis results of the copper-based finds, from the important Sicilian necropolis of Madonna del Piano, near Grammichele (Catania), dated between the local Final Bronze Age 2 and the Early Iron Age IA. 122 copper-based finds from the 273 graves (1970-71) of the large cemetery have been analysed. The sampled objects belong to different classes, there are for instance weapons of offence and defence, such as swords and greaves, small decorative objects for personal use, such as rings, fibulae, belt hooks, belt decorations, and small tools, such as the knives used by women, reels, needles and razors, but also small functional parts, such as rivets and nails, repairs and even a kind of musical instrument, such as the tintinnabula. The methods employed were AAS and SEM, where possible, and XRF in all cases. The aim of the research was that of evaluating the skill of the local artisans, of determining the most common copper-based alloys in use in Sicily in this period and comparing the data with the analysis results of contemporary groups of finds from other areas of the Italian peninsula and from other European regions.