Archaeometric analysis of the metal ornamentation of Late Bronze Age vessels and funnel-shaped pendants from the south-western Transdanubia

Abstract

Vessels decorated with domed metal discs were extraordinarily rare and valuable commodities of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery adorned with bronze discs and tin first appeared in Hungary during the earlier Urnfield period (14th/13th century BC). A vessel adorned with three ring motifs inlaid with a high-tin alloy on its belly is known from Nagykanizsa-Bilkei-dűlő and a cup decorated with bronze domed discs was recovered from Grave 222 of the Vörs-Battyáni-Disznólegelő cemetery, both in southern Transdanubia. The decorative bronze discs similarly had a high tin content. The metal composition was analysed with particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectroscopy. Pendant ornaments of “white bronze”, an alloy with a high tin content, are principally known from southern Transdanubia: the elemental composition of two pendants with bird protomes from Grave 51 of the Vörs-Battyáni-Disznólegelő cemetery and of a funnel-shaped pendant from the Pamuk hoard were examined by PIXE for compositional make-up, which indicated a high tin content for all three. These pendants had been worn as adornments. Tin was an important raw material in the production of bronze. Most of the vessels decorated with bronze discs were brought to light in the late Urnfield cemetery uncovered at Budapest-Békásmegyer (boot- and amphora-shaped vessels, a feeding vessel, resin balls). It seems likely that these vessels had once served ritual purposes. Regrettably, they have not yet been submitted to PIXE analyses.