The results of the research conducted by researchers from the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University are presented in the latest edition of the journal „Archaeometry”. In the paper, the authors describe the use of lead sulphide from the Olkusz deposits in the Silesian-Kraków Upland.

During the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, there were significant developments in trade relations in Europe, driven by the search for valuable and not quite readily available metals for bronze production: copper, tin, and lead. During that period, copper and its alloys were imported from the south of Europe, and there is currently no evidence of their domestic mining in prehistory. According to historical data, copper mining in Poland began only in the Middle Ages. Research show that it was different with lead.

The researchers used lead isotope analysis to examine 11 lead trinkets from cemeteries of the late Lusatian culture. The study included fragments of a tiara made of lead rings, a necklace and lead pendants. The researchers proved that most of these trinkets were made of local ore, indicating early exploitation of the Olkusz lead deposits, currently dated 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

'We have proven lead extraction from Olkusz galena deposits can be dated back to the 1st millennium BCE, which, given the current state of research, allows us to say that the mining and smelting of metal ores in the Polish lands began around the 8th or 7th century BCE - not with copper, but with lead', says Karol Dzięgielewski, PhD, from the Institute of Archaeology, quoted by the Jagiellonian University. 'The results of our investigation, which move the exploitation of local deposits back in time to the 1st millennium BCE, also provide the oldest evidence of smelting of any kind of metal from ores obtained in the Polish lands', he explains.

The earliest previously confirmed exploitation of the Olkusz lead deposits dated back to the Roman period, the 3rd century CE. This was possible thanks to lead isotope ratio research conducted in the 1990s by Zofia Stos-Gale, PhD, in collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University.

'Further historical and archaeological data point to the early Middle Ages, from the 10th century. On the other hand, geomorphological data from the analysed excavations show the use of the polymetallic deposits around Olkusz from the 2nd century BCE to the 16th century CE', describes Ewelina Miśta-Jakubowska, PhD, from the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University and the National Centre for Nuclear Research.

'Despite quite numerous attempts, no geochemical evidence has been obtained so far to support local copper extraction (in the Bronze Age - ed. PAP). Such places would have most probably been located in the foreland of the Sudetes or in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, where copper is nowadays extracted, but so far archaeological bronzes from these regions, as well as from other parts of Poland, have not yielded any evidence of prehistoric exploitation', Dzięgielewski explains.

The discovery was made using the method of determining the ratios of lead isotopes in artefacts. This technique, which allows to determine the origin of the metal used to make the artefact, is called the third revolution in archaeology. It has been known in the world since the 1960s. It is currently popular in archaeometric research in Poland.

'Due to the fact that the research requires taking a small sample from the artefact, conservators often do not approve this type of research, however - as you can see - the effect of such work can be groundbreaking', says Ewelina Miśta-Jakubowska, PhD.

The initiators and main authors of the paper are Ewelina Miśta-Jakubowska, PhD, from the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University and the National Centre for Nuclear Research, Dariusz Rozmus, PhD, from the Sztygarka Museum in Dąbrowa Górnicza, and Karol Dzięgielewski, PhD, and Renata Czech-Błońska from the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University. The project also involved scientists from the University of Warsaw, the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, the Museum of Western Małopolska in Wygiełzów and the Museum in Gliwice. The materials for research were provided by the Irena and Mieczysław Mazaraki Museum in Chrzanów.

The research was funded by a grant from the Polish National Science Centre and Mare Nostrum Lab as part of the Strategic Programme Excellence Initiative at the Jagiellonian University.

PAP - Science in Poland, Ewelina Krajczyńska-Wujec (PAP)

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