Bronze Age Metallurgy

In this paper we treat changes in weaponry and armament, which occurred in the Aegean and Levantine regions between the late 14th and the early 12th century BC. We aim at reconstructing these changes in a sequence as fine-phased as possible and try to identify the regions in which they originated. As a case study we use a sword of Naue II type found at Ugarit. As it has no clearly stratified context, we try to fix its chronology on one hand by reference to the overall stratigraphy of the site, and on the other by discussing better datable archaeological evidence from the Aegean and Cyprus. Swords of the Naue II group belong to new weapon types introduced to the eastern Mediterranean a few decades before the breakdown of many palace states around 1200 BC. There are different reasons that lead us to believe that these new weapon types arrived together with their users and producers from the central Mediterranean and cannot be seen as a result of goods exchange.

The South Caucasus was a major center of metal production in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Nowhere is this more clear than in the hills and mountains in the southeastern Black Sea region (ancient Colchis), where exceptionally large numbers of metal production sites have been found. Chemical and microscopic analysis of slagged technical ceramics at these sites illuminates several aspects of both raw copper and tin bronze alloy production. Copper ores were smelted in a complex multi-stage process designed to extract metal from sulfide ores. Technical ceramics served as containers for a range of different reactions, from the first phase of smelting, in which the copper sulfides were likely consolidated into a matte, though later stages of matte processing and metal copper production in smaller crucibles. In addition, a single crucible fragment, recovered from a late 2nd millennium BC slag heap, demonstrates that tin bronze was created by the direct addition of cassiterite tin ore, probably of alluvial origin, to metallic copper. The crucible's context, the use of cassiterite ore rather than tin metal, and a review of local geology suggests that the tin used in this crucible came from nearby, with the most likely source being the Vakijvari and Bzhuzhi gorges roughly 10-15 km away. While a single fragment does not speak to the regularity of this practice, at the very least it raises the possibility that the Colchian bronze industry was based on local rather than imported tin.

Das Gussformendepot beim Dorf Pobit Kamak ist eine bedeutende Quelle sowohl fürd ie Metallurgie im Balkangebiet als auch für Fernbeziehungen dieser Region in den Mittelmeerraum und das Nord-schwarzmeergebiet während der späten Bronzezeit. Ungeachtet dessen wurde dieser Depotfund immer noch nicht seiner Bedeutung gebührend präsentiert. Fast ein Jahrhundert ist vergangen, seit die ersten Gussformen gefunden worden sind. In dieser Zeit sammelten sich neue Informationen und Erkenntnisse an, welche die Basis für eine vergleichende Analyse bedeutend erweiterten. Dies ermöglicht zu einer ganzen Reihe von Denkmälern aus Südosteuropa und dem ostlichen Mittelmeerraum Vergleiche heranzuziehen, was zu einer exakteren Deutung dieses Fundes beiträgt.E ine Reinter-pretation des Depots als Ganzheit erscheint umso wichtiger, da einzelne Teile davon in verschiedenen Museen aufbewahrt werden, wodurch seine zusam-menhängende Darstellung zusätzlich erschwert wird. Hinzu kommt die Tatsache, dass in den bishe-rigen Publikationen eine ganze Reihe von Nichtü-bereinstimmungen und sogar Fehlern festgestellt werden konnte. Ein Teil der Gussformen wurde be-reits restauriert und das zu ihrerA nfertigung be-nutzte Felsenmaterial analysiert, so dass heute neue Daten vorliegen, u ¨ber die die Forschung früher nicht verfügt hat. Nichtz uletzt ist auch darauf hin-zuweisen, dass die bisherige Visualisierung der Gussformen in der Fachliteratur nicht den heutigen Anforderungen genügt. Daher werden hier neue de-taillierte Zeichnungen und Fotos veröffentlicht. Zur Fundgeschichte des Depots Das Dorf PobitK amak liegt in Nordostbulgarien, 20 Kilometer von der Stadt Razgrad entfernt (Abb. 1).E sw urde in einer hügeligen Region ge-gründet, die von den tiefen Flussbetten der hiesigen Flüsse durchschnitten wird (Abb. 4).Die Region bie-tet günstige Lebensbedingungen, was durch die ho-he Konzentration an archäologischen Denkmälern eindeutig belegt wird. (Abb. 3).I mJ ahr 1911 be-suchte A. C ˘ ilingirov die Region und erwarb mehrere Steingussformen, wie seinem ,,Berichtüber die Er-kundung der prähistorischen Siedlungen im nord-o ¨stlichen Bulgarien'' zu entnehmen ist: ,,Eine prä-historische Siedlung gibt es auch in der Gegend Nikolov geranb eim Dorf Dikili-Tas ˘ [Pobit Kamak]. Sie liegt in 4 Kilometern Entfernung nördlichv om Dorf und hat die Form eines Hügels. Die Siedlung wurde nach dem verlassenen Nikolov Brunnen be-nannt, der südlich davonliegt ... Nördlich vom Dorf [Pobit Kamak], in etwa 2 Kilometern auf dem Weg nach Güzeldz ˘e-Alan [Kamenovo],wurde von den Ge-wässern vor einigen Monaten ein Depotfund aus Steingussformen(Talkglimmerschiefer) samt einem Kupferbarren ans Tageslicht gespült, der von den Förstern aufbewahrt wurde. Man hätte dieseni nte-ressanten Fund vernichtet,w a ¨re ich nicht gekom-men, um die gefundenen Gussformen,a ußer einer davon,f u ¨rd as Museum abzuholen. Der Barren wur-de bereits bei seinerEntdeckung vernichtet. Am Ort, wo diese Gegenstände gefunden wurden, entdeckte ich Reste von nicht fertig gebrannten Tongefäßen.'' 1 U ¨ ber die Entdeckung des zweiten Gussfor-mendepots bei Pobit Kamak berichtet als ersteri m Jahr 1970 V. Mikov. Der Forscher zählt kurz die wichtigstenK ategorien der gegossenen Gegenstän-de auf und erwähnt, dass zum Depotfund auch eine Gussform fürS peerspitzen gehört. 2 B. Hänsel ver-o ¨ffentlicht Details u ¨ber die Entdeckung der von V. Mikov erwähnten Gussformen: Beim Arbeitenm it dem Tiefpflug wurde in Gipfelnähe eines flachen Hü-gels ein großes Gussformendepoth erausgepflügt. Eine nachträgliche Begehungd er Fundstelle hat nur weitere kleine Bruchstücke von Gussformen, aber keine Siedlungspuren ergeben'' 3 .I mJ ahr 2011 fügt der gleiche Autor hinzu: ,,Nach dem mir münd-Eurasia Antiqua 22, 2016 (2019) 1 ףºŁíªŁðîâ 1920, 68-69. 2 ÌŁOEîâ 1970, 59.E ine solche Gussform wurde aber weder im NAIM noch in Razgrad gefunden. 3 Hänsel 1976, 39.

The southwesternmost findspots of type B battle axes with a plaque are situated in Vinkovci and the surrounding area. In addition to the find of axes, the 1977 salvage excavations of a Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci yielded a fragment of a mould for casting battle axes with a plaque. The Vinkovci area has so far yielded 5 such axes, invariably chance finds. The finds of moulds for casting jewellery from the Vinkovci settlement make it clear that a metallurgical workshop was in operation in that Middle Bronze Age settlement of the Belegiš I culture, whose smiths communicated with the workshops in the Carpathians. These contacts took place through communications along the courses of the Danube and Tisza rivers.
Taking into consideration the size of the Middle Bronze Age settlement in Vinkovci, and the continuity of habitation and the tradition of casting operations, we could perhaps be discussing a major manufacturing centre. Such a view is reinforced by the fact that the moulds were discovered at several different positions within the settlement.
Considering that the number of presently known bronze objects of Middle Bronze Age date from northern Croatia is relatively small, this hampers the analysis of local distribution networks.
The position of the Vukovar and Lovas hoards in the Danubian basin, and the object types from settlements and hoards, as well as chance finds, all point to strong connections with the area of eastern Hungary. The workshop in Vinkovci should therefore be considered as a metallurgical centre at the southwestern edge of the production centre of the eastern Carpathians.

The equipment and processes used to manufacture hammered metal vessels during the palatial periods of Bronze Age Crete have not previously been investigated in detail. The study described in this paper takes an interdisciplinary approach to the
investigation of how these vessels were made, combining archaeological research with metalsmithing practice to reconstruct Minoan metal vessel production techniques.
The results indicate that simple tools found at many Minoan metallurgical sites are effective for creating these vessel forms. That these tools are also found in contexts which are not considered metallurgical sites may indicate that metalsmithing
occurred in more locations than are currently recognized.

(Short text in the Archaeometallurgical News section of HMS The Crucible no. 91 2016 p.4-5)
This text focuses on the presence of calcium and phosphorus in connection with copper-alloy residue on the inside of melting crucibles from south Sweden dated to the late Bronze Age (ca. 1100 - 500 BC).  It explores the possibility that the Ca and P found in connection with Cu-alloy remains in crucibles from south Sweden derives from the use of animal bone for poling.

Without a doubt, Nižná Myšl’a is one of the more significant sites of the European Bronze Age. The excavations, which have been carried out in the location since 1970s, revealed hundreds of graves associated with one of the defensive settlements of OFC. This paper presents a discussion relying on the recent 14C-based dating of very well known burials of metallurgists from Nižná Myšl’a. The determination of their absolute age provided a starting point in devising an interpretative model for the assesment of the significance of bronze metallurgy in the defensive settlements and for the hypothesis presupposing the existence of specific craft specialisation within the community of the OFC.

Τα χάλκινα ξίφη και εγχειρίδια της Εποχής του Χαλκού στο Αιγαίο ανήκουν στα εντυπωσιακότερα ευρήματα αυτής της περιόδου, όσον αφορά την τεχνοτροπία και τον πλούτο των υλικών τους. Η ερμηνεία της χρήσης τους ποικίλει από τον καθαρά τελετουργικό χαρακτήρα στη λατρεία, σε αντικείμενα γοήτρου για την εκάστοτε αριστοκρατία, μέχρι την προφανέστερη χρήση τους στον πόλεμο ή το κυνήγι. Τα αρχαιότερα αιγαιακά ξίφη αποτελούν εξέλιξη των μινωικών χάλκινων εγχειριδίων που σταδιακά επιμηκύνονται, λόγω της προόδου της μεταλλοτεχνίας.

Bei der Bewertung des räumlichen Verhältnisses von Gussformen zu Fertigprodukten im Karpatenbecken müssen Überlieferungsfilter stärker als bisher in Betracht gezogen werden. Zunächst stammen Tüllenbeilgussformen, anders als die Fertigprodukte, ganz überwiegend aus Siedlungen und wurden bei Ausgrabungen entdeckt. Der Stand der Siedlungsarchäologie bestimmt damit die Verbreitung von Gussformen in hohem Maße mit.
Der zweite Überlieferungsfilter betrifft die bronzezeitliche Gusstechnik. Es ist kaum anzunehmen, dass allein steinerne Gussformen verwendet worden sind. Neben einigen Funden fragiler und daher selten überlieferter zweischaliger Tongussformen liegen Belege verschiedener Arten von Modeln zur Herstellung von Ton- oder Formsandgussformen vor. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass vermutlich auch archäologisch schwer sichtbare Gussverfahren einen Anteil am Gesamteindruck der Verbreitung von Tüllenbeilgussformen in Rumänien haben. Die Steingussformen können gut zur Herstellung dieser Model gedient haben, ohne dass hier ihre einzige Funktion gelegen haben muss.

Zusammenfassung
Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert auf die, während verschiedener Zeitperioden feststellbaren metallurgischen Handwerkstechniken im Alpenraum. Eine der herausragenden Eigenschaften des Kupfers und der Bronze ist, dass sie durch Aufschmelzen und Gießen in eine beliebige Form gebracht werden können. Weiters können sie, wenn das Metallobjekt das Ende seines Lebenszyklus‘ erreicht hat, einfach wieder eingeschmolzen und dadurch wiederverwertet werden. Dies bietet große Vorteile gegenüber den, während der Steinzeiten benutzten Steinrohstoffen, die, wenn sie einmal zerbrochen sind, nicht wieder verwendet werden können. Während Kupfer und seine verschiedenen natürlich vorkommenden Legierungen v.a. während der Kupferzeit und Frühbronzezeit beobachtbar sind, setzt sich ab der entwickelten Frühbronzezeit eine Legierung aus Kupfer und Zinn – die Bronze – durch. Wesentlicher Vorteil der Bronze gegenüber dem Kupfer ist nicht nur ihre größere Härte, sondern auch die verbesserte Gieß- und Verarbeitbarkeit. Die Kenntnis um diese Eigenschaften ermöglichte es den Metallurgen, komplexere und widerstandsfähigere Metallobjekte herzustellen, sodass sich das Spektrum der Metalltypen im Laufe der Bronzezeit markant erweiterte und neue Formen entwickelt wurden. Der Depotfund vom Moosbruckschrofen am Piller (Tirol) oder das Depot von Nebra zeigen dabei sehr eindrücklich die Fähigkeiten der Metallhandwerker schon ab der Mittelbronzezeit und davor. Während der Spätbronzezeit wird die Metallverarbeitung noch weiter perfektioniert, wie das Aufkommen dünnwandiger Metallobjekte (Bronzegefäße, metallene Schutzwaffen) oder auch der handwerklich äußerst beeindruckenden „Goldblechkegel“ im süddeutschen Raum demonstrieren.

Summary
This article focuses on the metallurgical techniques used in the Alps during various different periods. One of the outstanding features of copper and bronze is that they can be formed into any shape by melting them and pouring them into a mould. Furthermore, they can be recycled by melting down obsolete items at the end of their life cycle and re-shaping them. This is a signifi cant advantage compared with stone materials used during the Stone Age, which could not be re-used once they had been shaped. While copper and its natural alloys were employed in particular during the Copper Age and the Early Bronze Age, from the developed Early Bronze Age onwards an alloy of copper and tin – bronze – gained the upper hand. Among the benefi ts offered by bronze over copper are not only that it is harder but also that it is easier to melt down and work. Metallurgists used this knowledge to create more complex and stronger metal objects, thereby creating a much more diverse range of metals during the Bronze Age, including completely new shapes. The site at Moosbruckschrofen am Piller (Tyrol) and the Nebra site are excellent examples of the skills of these metal workers during the Middle Bronze Age and even before. Metal working was further refi ned during the Late Bronze Age, including the creation of thin-walled metal objects (bronze vessels, metal weapons) and the highly intricate Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch found in southern Germany.

This article addresses, from Experimental Archeology point of view, useof soapstone as feedstock for the foundry molds production. Its use is isknown in the Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula through numerous fi ndings,while not frequent archaeometric characterization studies and has not been delved into its origin. We present an experimental proposal for
acquisition, processing and use of soapstone in bronze foundry work.

An inconspicious monument of the Bronze Age. Hradištský vrch near Písek-a hillfort dating to the transition period between the Middle and Late Bronze Age. The investigations of a so-far rather neglected hillfort on the hill of Hradištský vrch near Písek have revealed a number of interesting findings. Its extent, which was only determined with the help of airborne laser scanning, ranks it as the largest Bronze Age hillfort in South Bohemia. At the same time, it is the only well-documented hillfort dating to the transition period between Middle and Late Bronze Age in the region. Its system of transverse ramparts on the southern side, in front of the perimeter fortification, is especially unique. It is one of the ascertained striking elements which seem to support the hypothesis about its military (or rather defensive) significance. There was also convincing evidence of metallurgical activities within its premises.

Lusatian Urnfield communities inhabiting Lubusz Land and western Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages occupy a unique position on the settlement map of the middle Oder basin. For nearly a thousand years, they acted as a kind of buffer between the buoyant Silesian centre, which had achieved its culture-making role thanks to direct exchange contacts with the Transcarpathian and Danubian-Alpine centres of the south, and West Pomeranian groups inspired from the west and northwest by the Nordic circle. The impor- tance of Lubusz-Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) popula- tions to the overall cultural picture of the territories on the banks of the Oder River can hardly be overestimated, so it is worth analysing this phenomenon in more detail. One of the significant cultural elements is the ceramic style. It can be a means of manifesting outside the identity of a group, the identity consolidated by a tradition func- tioning within this group. It is hard to imagine a relative standardisation of patterns in pottery produced over a certain area to be only the result of more or less random movement of female potters or small groups of people.
The standardisation of material culture, resulting from the existence of a style, no doubt enhances homogeneity and stability in everyday life, and therefore can be regarded as a factor integrating neighbouring communities in terri- torial communities within a supra-local scale. In the Late Bronze Age, in Lubusz Land and western Greater Poland (Wielkopolska), one can notice the same stylistic tenden- cies in pottery manufacture (bossed style, Urad style, Late Bronze Age style) and in figural art in clay, and a similar repertoire of bronze objects, produced in local metallurgi- cal workshops on the Oder.
The formation of Urnfield communities in Lubusz Land and western Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) was no doubt part of a broader process of cultural integration, of supra-local character, which was taking place throughout the upper and middle Oder basin at the transition of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. This was a process of accul- turation, based on the reception of the influx of new cul- tural contents along the River Oder from Lower Silesia and perhaps, although to a much smaller extent, from Lusatia and Saxony. The result was the cultural unification, for the first time to such an extent, of the western part of what is now Poland. The archaeological indicator of the discussed process was the appearance of large cremation cemeter- ies, with burials furnished with bossed pottery of the Sile- sia-Greater Polish type, representing a style typical of most of the middle Oder basin. Similar tendencies can be seen in bronze metallurgy, where a nearly complete unification of the repertoire of produced objects can be observed from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. Here, however, the distributions of particular forms are much broader and encompass almost the entire western part of the Lusatian Urnfields. In Lubusz Land and western Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) the Late Bronze Age saw a very dynamic development of local bronze production, performed pri- marily within the Oder metallurgical centre. The result was a relatively high percentage of bronze artefacts in the cultural inventory of Urnfield populations inhabiting the region, most of them ultimately deposited in the many hoards buried during that period. A broad spectrum of manufactured designs, their notable standardisation, and the finds of durable casting moulds all seem to confirm that bronze metallurgy, along with pot-making, belonged to the most important areas of production performed by the population inhabiting the middle Oder basin at the conclusion of the 2nd and beginning of the 1st millennium BC, despite it having been carried out by a limited group of initiated specialists. The process of formation of Lusa- tian Urnfields in the middle Oder basin was most likely not complete before HaA2, and from the subsequent phase onwards one can notice a steady expansion of settled areas, resulting from intensive internal colonisation and the processes of acculturation. The dynamics of this phe- nomenon are best illustrated by newly established, vast cremation cemeteries, most of which were then continu- ously used at least until the close of the Bronze Age, with some persisting into the Early Iron Age. With the onset of the Early Iron Age, the Lubusz-Greater Polish territorial community of Lusatian Urnfields started to slowly disin- tegrate, a phenomenon explained by the adoption of a different model of Hallstatisation by these communities. In Lubusz Land, pottery of the Górzyce style (Göritzer Stil) appears, inspired more by Białowice (Billendorf) than Sile- sian patterns, while in western Greater Poland (Wielkopol- ska) ceramic workshops still maintained a close connec- tion with the tendencies set by their Silesian neighbours, who at that time closely followed the East Hallstatt trends. The Lubusz-Greater Polish territorial community, which crystallised and developed throughout the entirety of the Late Bronze Age largely thanks to the unique role of the Oder River as a route of long-distance exchange and at the same time a culturally unifying element of the landscape, ceased to exist with the onset of the Early Iron Age, never to be reborn.

What is ‘excellent workmanship’ and how do we arrive at such a ruling? I propose that this can be done via an analytical separation between 1) technical skills 2) the recognition of skill as (a) quality, and 3) the social value given to this quality.
I argue that interpretations with regard to the latter can be made only after the other two have been established. This article will focus on the second point, the recognition of skill.

The archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age shield is an almost unprecedented event. So, too, is to find one within a stratified sequence along with bones and pottery. Such an occurrence happened during excavations at Milsom’s Corner in South Cadbury (Somerset) in 1997 (fig.1A). At first sight,
this discovery offers a unique opportunity to date and contextualise the deposition of a shield. However, its placing in a silted ditch on the ridge of a spur is wholly atypical of shield find circumstances in the British Isles, for these are otherwise from wetland locations. The circumstances of the deposition of the South Cadbury shield therefore assume particular interest and it transpires that they may be unusual in more than one respect.

Zusammenfassung
Der BzD-zeitliche Hortfund von Fislis/Oltingue besteht
aus 63 überwiegend fragmentierten Gegenständen und
79 Gusskuchen mit einem Gesamtgewicht von 6,318
kg. Nach Inhalt und Zusammensetzung ist der Hort ein
typischer Vertreter urnenfelderzeitlicher Brucherzhorte.
Die teilweise überregionale Herkunft der Objekte
unterstreicht die Bedeutung des südlichen Oberrheins als
Verkehrsraum. Auffallend ist die Häufung der Hortfunde
auf der französischen Seite des Rheins. Ob dies historische
Ursachen hat oder die Folge einer unterschiedlichen Politik
im Umgang mit Sondengängern ist, werden die weiteren
Untersuchungen zeigen.

Résumé
Le dépôt de mobilier métallique du Bronze D de Fislis/
Oltingue est constitué de 63 objets et fragments d’objets
manufacturés et de 79 lingots et déchets de métallurgie
représentant un total de 6,318 kg. Par ses caractéristiques, ce
dépôt est parfaitement représentatif des dépôts de mobilier
fragmenté du Bronze final. Le recrutement de ce mobilier
provenant partiellement de régions éloignées, il souligne
le rôle d’espace de circulation tenue par ce secteur du sud
de la vallée du Rhin supérieur (le coude du Rhin/trouée de
Belfort). On constate par ailleurs une nette concentration
des dépôts de métal sur la rive française du Rhin. La poursuite des investigations archéologiques et des mises au jour
permettront sans doute de vérifier si cette situation a pour
fondement une réelle situation historique ou si elle constitue
l’héritage de différences de politiques patrimoniales envers
les prospecteurs.

Dans l’imagerie populaire, l’âge du Bronze est intimement lié à la représentation de riches dépôts de mobilier métallique. A bien y réfléchir, cette métaphore s’avère bien souvent réductrice tant les particularismes régionaux ou culturels décrivent des situations contrastées, voire différentes. Dès lors que les modalités de production et de consommation du métal sont perçues distinctement dans le Temps et dans l’Espace, s’impose une pluralité de comportements dépendant tout à la fois de mécanismes économiques et culturels, très souvent en prise directe avec la sphère symbolique.

"The supply and interregional exchange of metal in the Italian Bronze Age is much discussed. Distri - bution maps of bronze objects, the classical tool of such studies, show their geographical distribution as it is known from archaeological excavations or chance finds. However, many studies have shown that concentrations of specific types in certain regions and their absence in others are not necessarily representative for the areas in which they were made and/or used. Apart from chance finds (e.g., in industrialized and densely populated regions), ancient customs regulating the deposition of bronze objects may have acted as filters for the appearance of certain types in the archaeological record (cf. Hansen 1994; Maraszek 2006). Distribution maps thus can provide only indications for possible production regions of those types.
While the find location of an object is the place of its deposition (intentional or not) and may also be the place of its last use, metal analysis offers a different kind of information. It allows conclusions regarding the provenance of the raw material used for its production, if comparative analytical data from ore deposits are available. In combination with the types of the objects and their distribution areas, analytical results can be further used to infer the production regions of different types. In this study we present some preliminary results of a research project entitled “Dissemination of War Technology in the Mediterranean at the End of the 2nd Millennium B.C.—or Why the Bronzesmith Had to Have Some Knowledge about Fighting.” This project is financially supported by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), which is gratefully acknowledged"

Petrographic research was undertaken on the second casting moulds complex discovered in 2018 at the archaeological monument Tokivske-1 in Ukraine. Metalworking of the Late Bronze Age in the Northern Black Sea region is known for its utilisation of stone moulds made from meta-ultrabasites (“talc schists”) by representatives of the Sabatynivka culture. Field investigations in the vicinity of Tokivske indicated the probable place of stone mining, from where a considerable part of the casting moulds under study were made. The discovery of the place of stone mining near Tokivske-1 and finds
of similar moulds in other regions give grounds for considering the monument to be not only a centre of metalworking but also stone-processing. The obtained data are also the first geologically proved
evidence that the Kryvyi Rih area, which was previously considered the main supplier of “talc schists”, was not the only place of mining of raw materials for the manufacturing of casting moulds in the Middle Dnipro area. Both complexes, the second and the previous one, found in 2017, contain matrices made of identical raw materials, namely, the samples made are untypical for the Middle Dnipro area species. This fact indicates the synchronicity of both complexes and a significant volume of casting
production in Tokivske-1.