Prehistoric copper production in the eastern and central Alp

在青铜时代和早期铁器时代，阿尔卑斯东部和中部的铜经济在中欧的金属供应中发挥了重要作用。在此期间，阿尔卑斯的经济发生了很大的变化，采矿和金属生产将大部分土地从农业和偏远地区转变为早期的工业化地区。这个联合研究项目选择了三个最重要的铜生产商：(1)奥地利北蒂罗尔的Schwaz/Brixlegg地区，(2)奥地利萨尔茨堡的Mitterberg地区和(3)瑞士graub<s:1>恩登州的Oberhalbstein地区。在所有这些矿区，铜器时代到早期铁器时代的铜矿开采和/或冶金遗迹广泛存在，对相当数量的遗址的考古调查也取得了很大进展。这一研究状况为研究三个关键地区及其他地区史前大规模金属生产动态的超区域研究提供了一个极好的基础。施瓦兹/布里克斯莱格的法洛尔矿区在青铜时代早期发挥了重要作用，当时法洛尔铜成为中欧铜市场的重要原材料。从早期青铜时代晚期开始，特别是在青铜时代中期，密特贝格地区主导了铜的供应。据估计，该地区生产了2万吨铜，主要来自黄铜矿（东阿尔卑斯铜）。密特贝格地区可以被视为铜生产（密特贝格工艺）技术和经济创新的起点，以及专业社区对阿尔卑斯山东部和中部的相关占领。在青铜时代晚期和铁器时代早期，施瓦兹/布里克斯莱格地区的法赫洛采矿和冶金业达到了第二个鼎盛时期。在Oberhalbstein，从青铜时代中期到铁器时代早期，黄铜矿被开采出来。由于地质成因不同，与东阿尔卑斯铜和法洛铜相比，铜的地球化学可区分类型。尽管对Oberhalbstein地区采矿和冶炼遗址的系统考古调查才刚刚开始，但定居点考古为二次铜冶金提供了强有力的证据。基于专业的（采矿）考古调查，利用树木年代学、地球化学分析和计量经济学评估的高精度年代学数据，联合项目旨在对这三个重要的史前铜矿区进行比较和历时研究。其目的是重建和更好地了解这些地区的发展和意义、它们的经济动态以及高山金属生产商网络内的多种相互关系。研究结果将被整合到青铜时代和早期铁器时代金属经济的欧洲背景中。

The eastern and central Alpine copper economy played a major role in the metal supply of central Europe during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In that period, the Alpine economy changed considerably as mining and metal production transformed large parts of the landscape from agrarian and remote areas into early industrialized regions. Three of the most important copper producers have been selected for this joint research project: (1) the Schwaz/Brixlegg district in North Tyrol, Austria, (2) the Mitterberg district in Salzburg, Austria and (3) the Oberhalbstein district in Graubünden, Switzerland. In all of these mining districts Bronze Age to Early Iron Age relics of copper ore mining and/or metallurgy are widespread and the archaeological investigation of a considerable number of sites is highly advanced. The state of research represents an excellent base for a supra-regional study dealing with the dynamics of prehistoric large-scale metal production in the three key-areas and beyond. The fahlore mining district of Schwaz/Brixlegg played an important role during the Early Bronze Age, when fahlore-copper became an essential raw material for the central European copper respectively bronze market. From the late Early Bronze Age on and especially during the Middle Bronze Age, the Mitterberg district dominated the copper supply. An estimated 20,000 tons of copper were produced in this region, mainly from chalcopyrite ore (eastern Alpine copper). The Mitterberg area can be considered as a starting point for technological and economical innovations in copper production (Mitterberg-process) and the associated occupation of the eastern and central Alps by specialized communities. Fahlore mining and metallurgy in the Schwaz/Brixlegg district reached a second prime during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In the Oberhalbstein, chalcopyrite ores were exploited from the end of the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. Due to a different geological genesis, a geochemically distinguishable type of copper is to be expected compared with the eastern Alpine copper and the fahlore-copper. Whereas the systematic archaeological investigation of mining and smelting sites in the Oberhalbstein is just at the beginning, settlement archaeology furnished strong evidence of secondary copper metallurgy. Based on specialized (mining-)archaeological investigations, highly precise chronological data using dendrochronology, geochemical analyses and econometric evaluations, the joint project aims to carry out a comparative and diachronic study of these three important prehistoric copper mining districts. The aim is to reconstruct and to better understand the development and significance of the districts, their economic dynamics and the manifold interrelations within the network of alpine metal producers. The results will be integrated into the European context of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age metal economy.