U. Sanna, R. Valera, F. Lo Schiavo : Archaeo-Metallurgia in Sardinia, from the origins to the Early Iron Age, 2004, Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia

The Università degli Studi di Cagliari, the Associazione Italiana di Metallurgia, the Associazione per l’Università del Sulcis Iglesiente and Prof. M. Cavallini, University “La Sapienza” Roma, Prof. G.L. Garagnani, University of Ferrara, A. Giumlia-Mair, AGM Archeoanalisi, Merano (BZ), O.Lecis, President of AIM, F. Lo Schiavo, CNR Rome, Prof. W. Nicodemi, University (Politecnico) of Milan, and past-president of AIM, Prof. U. Sanna and Prof. R.Valera, both University of Cagliari (as Organizing Committee), held a meeting in Sardinia on 10th and 11th of September to launch the volume ArchaeoMetallurgy in Sardinia, by Ulrico Sanna, Roberto Valera and Fulvia Lo Schiavo (2004).

The book consists of a multi-authored study dealing with all aspects of prehistoric metallurgy on Sardinia and covers a time span of 3000 years. It collects the work of scholars coming from different fields and specializations. Mining geologists thoroughly studied the territory and evidenced the existing resources, archaeometry specialists carried out analyses on over 250 finds and commented the results, and archaeologists identified and classified the artefacts and provided the basic historical frame. The volume and the attached CD-ROM, were also presented in Milan, at the International Conference “Archaeometallurgy in Europe”, September 2003.

Aims of the workshop were both the critical analysis of the book contents by the invited speakers and the discussion, from different points of view, on the interconnections Sardinia had in this period with other European and Mediterranean cultures. F. Begemann and S. Schmitt-Strecker, Max Planck Institut, Mainz, Germany, reported on their lead isotope analyses carried out on Sardinian materials and on specimens from the Balcans and other sites in Europe. Their researches show that all ox-hide ingots found in Sardinia come from Cyprus, while the copious Sardinian bronze production (statuettes, tools, weapons and other artefacts) are all made with Sardinian copper. Noel Gale, Oxford University, UK, spoke on his lead isotope analyses in Sardinia and in the Mediterranean. His results also indicate Cyprus as the source of the ox-hide ingots found in Sardinia.

The second session of the day discussed the Late Bronze Age metallurgy of Sardinia in connection with several European regions. S. Rovira Lorens, Museo Arqueologico National, Madrid, Spain, showed many examples of artefacts, which are found both in Spain and in Sardinia and discussed their characteristics. M. Pernot, CNRS / IRAMAT, Pessac, France, discussed the same topic from the point of view of France, while E. Pernicka, TU Bergakademie, Freiberg, Germany , illustrated the situation in Central Europe. Vassiliki Kassianidou, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, reported on the archaeological situation in her island and gave her interpretations and suggested some solutions to the problems resulting from discrepancies between analysis results and archaeological data. Finally J. Muhly, American School of Classical Studies, Athens, Greece, and R. Maddin, Arlington, USA, provided the general archaeological and metallurgical overviews. All papers were commented and discussed by some of the organizers (Garagnani, Cavallini, Giumlia-Mair, Lo Schiavo) who also had the task of leading the subsequent discussions.

The second part of the workshop was dedicated to updates on different archaeometallurgical topics in Sardinia and begun with the last speaker of the day, C. Giardino, who reported the results of a “Progetto finalizzato CNR/BBCC 1997”. On the second day, the meeting was transferred to Iglesias where, in the Palazzo Bellavista of Monteponi, belonging to the University of Sulcis Iglesiante, more updates on archaeometallurgy in Sardinia based on analyses, were given by C. Atzeni, L. Massidda and U. Sanna, while R. Valera and P. Valera discussed some new details on geological data. F. Lo Schiavo, together with U. Badas, L. Usai and A. Usai, illustrated the latest archaeological data, just before the interesting visit to the Parco Minerario of the town Iglesias in the south eastern corner of the island.   echipament. In : Chirila (E.) et al., Castrul roman de la Buciumi. Cluj 1972, 60-77. Majnaric-Pandzic 1970 ; Majnaric-Pandzic (N.), Keltskolatenska kultura u Slavoniji i SrijemuThe participants had the opportunity of visiting the underground galleries of the mine of Villamarina and the adits cut from the mine to the sea cliffs where the ore could be directly discharged into the ships coming to Porto Flavia. In the afternoon A. Giumlia-Mair reported on studies carried out on the famous hoard containing 75 kg of ox-hide and plano-convex ingots, found on the island Lipari, under the buildings on the acropolis. F. Lo Schiavo discussed the finds of ox-hide ingots in Sicily and in Corsica in connection with wider archaeological data. Archaeometrical data on the same finds were discussed by U. Sanna. . Vinkovci 1970. Pieta 1997 ; Pieta (K.), Die frühen norisch-pannonischen Handelsbeziehungen mit dem nördlichen Mitteldonaugebiet, Peregrinatio Ghotica. Supplementum ad Acta Musei Moraviae 82, 1997, 45-61. Rustoiu 1996 ; Rustoiu (A.), Metalurgia bronzului la daci (sec. II î. Chr. – sec. I d. Chr.). Tehnici, ateliere si produse de bronz. Bucuresti 1996. Stojic 2003 ; Stojic (M.), Veliki Vetren. Beograd 2003. Todorovic 1972 ; Todorovic (J.), Praistorijska Karaburma I. Nekropola mladeg gvozdenog doba. Beograd 1972 (Dissertationes et Monographiae 3). Torbov 2003 ; Torbov (N.), Toki ot kolan i kolani-verizki, otkriti na teritorijata, zakljucena mezdu rekite Timok i Iskar. In : Zemite na Bãlgarija – ljulka na trakijskata kultura. Veliko Tãrnovo, Sofija 2003 (in print).

The last part of the workshop focussed its attention on northern finds with a paper by N. Trampuz Orel, National Museum Ljubljana, on ingots, hoards, metal production and circulation in the Oriental Alps. The last contribution to the rich program was given by Albrecht Jockenhövel with a paper titled ; “A case study ; regional (SW Germany) LBA circulation of raw materials (copper ingots) and recycling (bronze ingots), based on analyses”. The meeting was concluded by a rather heated discussion, directed by P. Craddock, The British Museum, London, UK. The huge amount of ox-hide ingots in Sardinia, which after the lead isotopes analyses are allegedly all imported from Cyprus, and the magnificent and very abundant local bronze artefacts, produced by using copper from local sources are rather difficult to explain. The copper of the ox-hide ingots was virtually never employed for the production of any of the objects and what was the reason of importing so much copper from far away if the local sources are rather rich ? Further, all ox-hide ingots spread all over Mediterranean countries, analysed up to now, seem to have the same lead isotope pattern, indicating Cyprus.   P. Craddock suggested that the copper of the “Cypriot” ox-hide ingots might have been actually local copper, somehow treated or purified, perhaps to extract the silver, but his alternative explanations found several opponents especially among the lead isotope people.   The mystery of the Sardinian ox-hide ingots and of the local metal production remains for the moment unexplained.

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