Prehistoric copper production in the eastern and central Alp

东部和中部阿尔卑斯山的铜矿经济在青铜时代和早期铁器时代对中欧的金属供应起到了重要作用。在此期间，阿尔卑斯山的经济发生了巨大变化，采矿和金属生产将大部分地区从农业和偏远地区转变为早期工业化地区。这一联合研究项目选定了三个最重要的铜生产商：（1）奥地利北蒂罗尔州的施瓦兹/Brixlegg区，（2）奥地利萨尔茨堡州的Mitterberg区和（3）瑞士格劳宾登州的Oberhalbstein区。在所有这些矿区中，青铜时代至铁器时代早期铜矿开采和/或冶金的遗迹很普遍，对相当数量的遗址进行的考古调查非常先进。研究的状态是一个很好的基础，为超区域研究处理史前大规模金属生产的动力学在三个关键领域和超越。施瓦兹/布里克斯莱格的fahlore矿区在青铜时代早期发挥了重要作用，当时fahlore铜成为中欧铜和青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，米特贝格地区主导了铜的供应。据估计，该地区生产了20 000吨铜，主要来自黄铜矿（东部阿尔卑斯山铜矿）。米特贝格地区可被视为铜生产（米特贝格法）的技术和经济创新的起点，并被专门社区占领阿尔卑斯山东部和中部。施瓦兹/布里克斯莱格地区的法洛尔采矿和冶金业在青铜时代晚期和铁器时代早期达到了第二个鼎盛时期。在Oberhalbstein，黄铜矿从青铜时代中期末到铁器时代早期被开采。由于不同的地质成因，一个地球化学可区分类型的铜是预期相比，东部阿尔卑斯山铜和fahlore-copper。虽然对上哈尔布施泰因的采矿和冶炼遗址的系统考古调查才刚刚开始，但定居考古学提供了二次铜冶金的有力证据。根据专门的（采矿）考古调查、使用树木年代学的高度精确年代数据、地球化学分析和经济计量评价，该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，其经济动态和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的金属经济的欧洲背景下。

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.