- [UNTITLED]
- Preface
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: The Bronze Age of Europe
- Old Father Time: The Bronze Age Chronology of Western Europe
- Europe 2500 to 2200 BC: Between Expiring Ideologies and Emerging Complexity
- A Little Bit of History Repeating Itself: Theories on the Bell Beaker Phenomenon
- Bronze Age Settlements
- Burials
- Hoards and the Deposition of Metalwork
- Monuments and Monumentality in Bronze Age Europe
- Stonehenge
- The Contribution of Skeletal Isotope Analysis to Understanding the Bronze Age in Europe
- The Myth of the Chief: Prestige Goods, Power, and Personhood in the European Bronze Age
- Identity, Gender, and Dress in the European Bronze Age
- Warfare in the European Bronze Age
- Rethinking Bronze Age Cosmology: A North European Perspective
- Bronze Age Rock Art in Northern Europe: Contexts and Interpretations
- Rock Carvings and Alpine Statue-Menhirs, from the Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age
- Bronze Age Fieldsand Land Division
- Animals in Bronze Age Europe
- Plant Cultivation in the Bronze Age
- Trade and Exchange
- Seafaring and Riverine Navigation in the Bronze Age of Europe
- Land Transport in the Bronze Age
- Copper and Bronze: Bronze Age Metalworking in Context
- Bronze Age Coppermining in Europe
- Gold and Gold Working of the Bronze Age
- Craft Production: Ceramics, Textiles, and Bone
- Glass and Faience
- Salt Production in the Bronze Age
- Weighing, Commodification, and Money
- Britain and Ireland in the Bronze Age: Farmers in the Landscape or Heroes on the High Seas?
- The Bronze Age in the Low Countries
- The Bronze Age in France
- Bronze Age Iberia
- The Bronze Age in the Balearic Islands
- Peninsular Italy
- The Bronze Age in Sicily
- The Bronze Age in Sardinia
- Northern Italy
- Switzerland and the Central Alps
- Germany in the Bronze Age
- Scandinavia
- The Bronze Age in the Polish Lands
- The Czech Lands and Austria in the Bronze Age
- Slovakia and Hungary
- The Western Balkans in the Bronze Age
- <i>Castellieri-Gradine</i> of the Northern Adriatic
- Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria
- Ukraine and South Russia in the Bronze Age
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This article takes a look at the mining of copper in Bronze Age Europe. It notes that the large number of copper mines which have been found in many parts of Europe signify that there was a widespread geological occurrence and surface exposure of copper deposits during this period. The article studies the archaeology of Bronze Age copper mining, surveys some of its main centres, describes the processes used by Bronze Age miners in order to search for copper, and studies the technology used in the copper mines. It also takes a look at the mining environment, such as the ventilation and the possibility of fatal accidents. Finally, the article discusses the stages of copper production and the implications of copper mining in Bronze Age European society.
Keywords: copper mining, copper deposits, archaeology, mining processes, mining environment, copper production
William O’Brien, Department of Archaeology, University College Cork, Ireland
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- [UNTITLED]
- Preface
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- Introduction: The Bronze Age of Europe
- Old Father Time: The Bronze Age Chronology of Western Europe
- Europe 2500 to 2200 BC: Between Expiring Ideologies and Emerging Complexity
- A Little Bit of History Repeating Itself: Theories on the Bell Beaker Phenomenon
- Bronze Age Settlements
- Burials
- Hoards and the Deposition of Metalwork
- Monuments and Monumentality in Bronze Age Europe
- Stonehenge
- The Contribution of Skeletal Isotope Analysis to Understanding the Bronze Age in Europe
- The Myth of the Chief: Prestige Goods, Power, and Personhood in the European Bronze Age
- Identity, Gender, and Dress in the European Bronze Age
- Warfare in the European Bronze Age
- Rethinking Bronze Age Cosmology: A North European Perspective
- Bronze Age Rock Art in Northern Europe: Contexts and Interpretations
- Rock Carvings and Alpine Statue-Menhirs, from the Chalcolithic to the Middle Bronze Age
- Bronze Age Fieldsand Land Division
- Animals in Bronze Age Europe
- Plant Cultivation in the Bronze Age
- Trade and Exchange
- Seafaring and Riverine Navigation in the Bronze Age of Europe
- Land Transport in the Bronze Age
- Copper and Bronze: Bronze Age Metalworking in Context
- Bronze Age Coppermining in Europe
- Gold and Gold Working of the Bronze Age
- Craft Production: Ceramics, Textiles, and Bone
- Glass and Faience
- Salt Production in the Bronze Age
- Weighing, Commodification, and Money
- Britain and Ireland in the Bronze Age: Farmers in the Landscape or Heroes on the High Seas?
- The Bronze Age in the Low Countries
- The Bronze Age in France
- Bronze Age Iberia
- The Bronze Age in the Balearic Islands
- Peninsular Italy
- The Bronze Age in Sicily
- The Bronze Age in Sardinia
- Northern Italy
- Switzerland and the Central Alps
- Germany in the Bronze Age
- Scandinavia
- The Bronze Age in the Polish Lands
- The Czech Lands and Austria in the Bronze Age
- Slovakia and Hungary
- The Western Balkans in the Bronze Age
- <i>Castellieri-Gradine</i> of the Northern Adriatic
- Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria
- Ukraine and South Russia in the Bronze Age
- Index