Eneolithic copper jewellery from grave 7 of the Lublin-Volhynian culture at site 2 in Książnice, Świętokrzyskie Province, Poland : typological and physical metallurgy characteristic

This article presents a typological and physical metallurgy analysis of copper artifacts found in child grave (no 7) at the Lublin-Volhynian culture cemetery in Książnice (Lesser Poland). The burial, dating to approx. 4050–3940 BC, contains a rich set of copper jewellery: a massive earring, small earring, bracelet - made of copper wire, and two beads made of a rolled piece of metal sheet. As part of metallographic analysis of metal finds from grave 7, site 2 in Książnice, quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted, regarding chemistry and microstructure of all the five artifacts. In the artifacts tested, there were identified the elements significant from the perspective of raw material origin and smelting technology: arsenic, antimony, silver, tin, zinc, lead, bismuth, cobalt, nickel and iron. The highest total content of impurities was noted for the bracelet. Against the background of other elements, the arsenic content stands out here and it is 2.1%, and lead 0.26%. For the remaining artifacts, the arsenic content was 0÷0,24%, and lead 0÷0,039%. Antimony (0.098%) and zinc (0.15%) was only recorded for the one of the bead. Also, the highest content of silver (0.05%) was established in this case. In the remaining ornaments, the silver content was below 0.02%. Based on the X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy results, chemical profiles were established for the individual, and they were ascribed to raw material groups according to R. Krause: 1) pure copper, 2) arsenic copper and 3) antimony copper (Krause 2003: 90–91, Abb. 40–41). The presented inventory of copper artifacts from grave 7, having many analogies in the Carpathian Basin and the areas to the north and east of the Carpathians, confirms the thesis about wide, trans-Carpathian contacts of the group which was using the necropolis in Książnice at the turn of 5th and 4th millennium BC