Archaeometric perspective on the emergence of brass north of the Alps around the turn of the Era.

ABSTRACT: Ancient brass (aurichalcum) was a valued commodity in the Antiquity, notably because of its gold-like appearance. After mastering brass fabrication using the cementation procedure in the first century BC in the Mediterranean, this material became widely used by the Romans for coins, jewellery and other artefacts. Because of its visual qualities, it is believed that since this period, brass played an important role in diplomatic and economic contacts with indigenous communities, notably Celtic and Germanic tribes north of Danube and west of Rhine. To test this hypothesis, we performed for the first time the advanced statistical multivariate analysis based on chemical composition and lead isotope systematics, coupled with informed typo-chronological categorisation, of a suite of late Iron Ag

SUBMITTER: Bursak D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8748637 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature