Traces of a “new” Metalcraft Specialisation: A unique Late Bronze Age Burial at Karzec Cemetery

Abstract

Abstract This paper will discuss the results of material science analyses of artefacts from grave no. 89 in Karzec, Central Poland, that were discovered in 1959. The obtained results will be interpreted in the context of the possibility of a ‘new’ specialisation within the metallurgical workshop of the Lusatian people of the Late Bronze Age – a mouldmaker/moulder. In many terms, the grave at Karzec is a unique object for the study of Bronze Age metallurgy, as it contained not only two complete stone casting moulds but also pre-prepared raw material for the production of another mould as well as other metalworking objects. Despite this fact, it has yet to be the subject of a detailed analysis.