Provenancing metal and glass in the Iron Age. How to scientifically approach “complex economy”?

0532914 - ARÚ 2021 CZ eng A - Abstrakt
Danielisová, Alžběta - Bursák, Daniel - Pajdla, P. - Strnad, L. - Trubač, J.
Provenancing metal and glass in the Iron Age. How to scientifically approach “complex economy”?
26th EAA Virtual Annual Meeting. Abstract book. Prague: European Association of Archaeologists, 2020 - (Kleinová, K.). s. 167-168. ISBN 978-80-907270-7-6.
[Virtual Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists /26./. 24.08.2020-30.08.2020, online]
Grant CEP: GA ČR(CZ) GA18-20096S
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985912
Klíčová slova: provenance analyses * Iron Age * lead isotopes * chemical composition
Obor OECD: Archaeology
https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2020/repository/preview.php?Abstract=1977

When attempting provenance analyses, we need to bear in mind that these are rarely straightforward and usually comprise many challenges. What scale of production we are talking about? What sort of production strategies? How to successfully detect mixing and/or recycling? Problems with provenancing include also obscuring the signal of individual alloy components (copper, vs. lead), overlapping of ore deposits, general lack of data for individual time periods (Iron Age in particular). The list goes on and on … This contribution aims to be mostly methodological. We would like to focus on methodical approaches to the data analysis, their chemical composition (i.e. the trace element patterns) and lead isotopic ratios alike to discuss potential approaches to data evaluation. Sometimes the most complex mathematical modelling does not do any good and more simple evaluation methods (Principal Component Analysis, K-means clustering, Linear Discriminant Analysis etc.) combined with empirical observations can be the most effective in recognising the data patterns in relation to provenance. Sometimes even smallest differences between the values can be important provenance or technology-wise. On the basis of selected case studies from the La Tène period (4th – 1st century BC) we aim to demonstrate how the provenancing studies may become challenging in context of historical paradigms – especially migrations, political events and socio-cultural aspects, when not only the “most local deposits” are the ones in the picture.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0311289