Bronze Age copper supply in Mediterranean France: first results from lead isotope and chemical analyses of hoarded metalwork

Abstract

Copper supply networks in southern France are analysed on the basis of a study of five hoards of metal objects dating from the end of the Early Bronze Age (c. 17th-16th BCE) to the end of the Late Bronze Age (c. 9th BCE). A total of 73 inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy elemental analyses were performed and 48 objects belonging to the different groups that could be identified from the elemental compositions were targeted for lead isotope analysis (multicollector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry). The results clearly show that the same source was used for the various objects in each hoard, but that copper from different origins was used depending on the period. This reveals evolving supply networks that can be linked to the cultural interactions observed during this period. Towards the end of the Early Bronze Age or the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 17th-16th BCE), axe-ingots were imported into southern France along the Rhone corridor. The origin of the copper from which they are made could potentially be the Vosges massif. On the other hand, one of the major contributions of this study is to have demonstrated the use of copper originating from the Southeastern Alps during a late phase of the Middle Bronze Age and up to the Late Bronze Age (c. 14th-11th BCE). A form of packaging for this Alpine copper was as pick-ingots, and it was probably in this form that it arrived in southern France. This network was interrupted around the 9th century BCE and the populations of southern France returned to the exploitation of local minerals (Cabrières-Péret district). This research highlights the link between trade networks and cultural dynamics, showing that the circulation of raw materials also helps strengthen relations between communities.