Lead isotopes in the context of the provenance of copper alloys and mutability processes in Lithuania from the second half of the 1st century to the 13th century AD
Volume 31 (2024), pp. 98–126
Pub. online: 27 December 2024
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Received
20 September 2024
20 September 2024
Revised
1 October 2024
1 October 2024
Accepted
30 October 2024
30 October 2024
Published
27 December 2024
27 December 2024
Abstract
This paper presents the results of analysis of lead isotope ratios (208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb,
206Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 207Pb/206Pb) in copper alloys combined with chemical composition
studies of archaeological artefacts by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS).
The study covers a total of 208 samples collected from 55 sites spread all over Lithuania. The
chronological range of the study encompasses the period from the second half of the 1st century
AD to the 13th century AD. The repeated recycling of copper alloys, the addition of scrap materials
with varying compositions, and the mixing of lead from different geological ore deposits naturally
alter the original chemical composition of the alloy. The continuous recycling and alteration
of materials pose challenges in identifying the original connections between the regions of origin
of copper alloy ores in southern Eurasia and the users of these raw materials in the eastern Baltic
Sea region. Together with lead isotope ratio analysis, investigation of copper alloy types, copper
groups, and metal working technological development fundamentally changes the idea of a linear
exchange of non-ferrous metals. The analysis carried out in this research has enabled the identification
of the provenance and dissemination of non-ferrous metal raw materials (alloys and scrap
metal) as part of the European exchange network at local (the present territory of Lithuania),
regional (the eastern Baltic region), and trans-European levels.