CAST Copper Accumulation, Supply, and Technology among Italian prehistoric societies

Areas: Prehistory and Protohistory

Abstract:
The CAST project aims at investigating the sustainability of metal, metalworking activities and circular economy of metal among the Late Copper Age and the Bronze Age communities of Northern Italy. The core research questions of the project concern the whole process of metal production and its impact on the environment and human health.
The time period spanning between the end of the 3rd and the end of the 2nd millennium BC is characterised by an increasing demand for copper and copper alloy objects determining the establishment of capillary smelting and metal workshops, as well as long distance contacts and exchange routes. The economy of metal production in the Bronze Age is particularly significant since the modern concepts of circular economy, recycling and sustainability can be traced back to this period. In fact, copper and its alloys are the first completely recyclable material used in prehistory, allowing its constant reuse and readaptation. The rarity of natural copper sources and their long distance networks of supply also encouraged their constant reuse and re-adaptation. This important economic revolution also caused a considerable impact on the environment. In fact, several studies of European prehistoric contexts have observed a considerable rise in heavy metal pollution in the environment, also reflected by a growing exposure to metals among human individuals, due to an extraordinary increase in metalworking activities.
The Po plain is a privileged area to investigate these topics since it is characterised by a substantial number of metal objects (ornaments, weapons and tools) produced and used in the Late Copper and Bronze Age and by several tangible traces of on-site productions, hinted by the presence of tools (crucibles, tuyères and moulds) and casting pits. By targeting archaeological key-sites, CAST aims at combining archaeometric analysis, 3D reconstructions and experimental archaeology to develop a comprehensive methodological approach to ancient metalworking activities addressing the whole chaîne opératoire. The actions have the objective to fill a gap in archaeometallugical studies, which have never comprehensively investigated these fundamental questions. In particular, the provenance analysis of metal objects will provide data about mechanisms of supply and potential recycling of raw materials; by analysing copper and bronze artefacts and metalworking tools, specific technologies and possible cross-craft interactions will be explored and supported by experimental activities.
Traceology and experimental archaeology will help to shed light also on the use, reuse and durability of metal objects and metalworking tools.
Geochemical analysis of soil sequences and human remains will clarify the impact of metals on the environment and human exposure to metal pollution.

Duration of the project: 30/11/2023 – 30/11/2025

Principal investigator: Maurizio Cattani

Partnership: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

Budget of the University of Bologna: 122.858 EUR

ERC sectors:
1. SH6_4 Prehistory, palaeoanthropology, palaeodemography, protohistory, bioarchaeology
2. SH6_3 General archaeology, archaeometry, landscape archaeology 3. SH7_5 Sustainability sciences, environment and resources