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Eniosova N.V. The Chemical Composition of Nonferrous Metal from Gnezdovo

Abstract: The presented collection of jewellery, household items, raw material objects and waste from jewellery making was found during the excavation of the Gnezdovo cemetery and settlement, located in the Upper Dnieper region. This collection testifies to the developed state of the jewellery-making craft in one of the largest towns in Ancient Rus during the 10th century. The analysis of the findings’ metal chemical composition has allowed to identify the recipes for the alloys used by the Gnezdovo jewellers and the particularities of their raw material sources, but also permitted to form a basis for the discussion of the possible origins of nonferrous metals in Gnezdovo. The elementary compositions of the artefacts in copper and their alloys were tested in different laboratories with the help of the optic emission spectroscopy analysis and the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence method. In the selection of the sample the objects were categorised by origins linked to particular ethnic groups and regions. The statistical analysis of the derived results illustrates that the Gnezdovo jewellers had at their disposal “pure” copper, tin and lead bronze, double and triple brass and multicomponent alloys resulting from the multiple remelting of objects and raw materials. The quantitative prevalence of copper-zinc alloys in the sample indicates that the majority of the metals came into the jewellers’ workshops from the Baltic and Scandinavia – the main distribution zone of brass during the 9th–11th centuries.


Keywords:

Old Rus state, Middle Dnieper region, Gnezdovo jewellery making, metal chemical composition, analysis method, “pure” copper, brass, bronze, alloys, sources of raw material


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