Investigation of Bronze Age Gold objects in the frame of the e-rihs.hu platform
Although gold jewellery coming from treasure troves, graves, or less often from settlements are mainly interpreted as prestigious objects, they are also important from the archaeological point of view, indicating the possible sources of the material
The primary sources of the prehistoric European gold jewellery are the gold ores in the mountains while the secondary sources are the alluvial deposits – deposits in stream beds. According to the current understanding, mining of the gold only began in the Iron Age.
To trace the social exchanges intensified during the Bronze Age (between 2600/2500 and 800 BCE), it is important to know the sources of the raw materials used by the craftsmen of the era. In collaboration with the Momentum Mobility Research Group of the Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest), the Hungarian National Museum (Budapest), and the Déri Museum (Debrecen) the composition of gold objects held in Hungarian museums is investigated using non-destructive PIXE analysis in MTA Atomki.
PIXE analysis of a decorated armband, found in the vicinity of Dunavecse (Hungarian National Museum)
