Prehistoric copper production in the eastern and central Alp

在青铜时代和铁器时代早期，阿尔卑斯山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，随着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，阿尔卑斯山的经济发生了很大变化。该联合研究项目选择了三家最重要的铜生产商：(1)奥地利北蒂罗尔的Schwaz/Brixlegg区，(2)奥地利萨尔茨堡的Mitterberg区，以及(3)瑞士格劳布恩登的Oberhalbstein区。在所有这些矿区中，青铜时代到铁器时代早期，铜矿开采和/或冶金遗迹广泛存在，相当数量的遗址的考古调查进展顺利。这一研究状况为超区域研究三个关键地区及以外地区史前大规模金属生产的动态奠定了良好的基础。施瓦茨/布里克斯雷格铜矿矿区在青铜时代早期发挥了重要作用，当时铜矿成为中欧铜市场的主要原料。从青铜时代晚期开始，尤其是在青铜时代中期，密特伯格地区主导着铜的供应。据估计，该地区的铜产量为20,000吨，主要来自黄铜矿(东阿尔卑斯山铜)。密特贝格地区可以被视为铜生产技术和经济创新(密特伯格工艺)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。施瓦茨/布里克斯雷格地区的Fahlore采矿和冶金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，从青铜时代中期末到铁器时代早期，黄铜矿一直被开采。由于不同的地质成因，与东部阿尔卑斯山铜矿和辉石铜矿相比，有望形成一种在地球化学上可区分的铜矿类型。虽然对奥伯哈尔布斯坦采矿和冶炼遗址的系统考古调查才刚刚开始，但聚落考古提供了第二次铜冶炼的有力证据。基于专门的(采矿)考古调查，使用树状年代学、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。研究结果将融入青铜时代和铁器时代早期金属经济的欧洲背景。

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.