Identifying silver-coated surfaces on Early Bronze Age axes from Bohemia

Abstract

Deposits of bronze and copper artefacts are a common feature of the developed Únětice culture in Central Europe. Hoards of axes are especially frequent in Central Germany in the area between Halle, Salle and Dieskau. From this area come the most impressive assemblages of axe hoards. In Bohemia, Czech Republic, a more distant area from Central Germany, the hoards are less frequent and less rich. Until recently the largest hoards came from Northwest Bohemia, which was explained by its geographical closeness to Germany. However, this changed due to a find in Kukleny in Eastern Bohemia of 57 axes; it is the largest axe hoard in Bohemia so far. In total, 65 bronze axes were analysed in hoards found in Kukleny and Kunčice, a smaller hoard found only several kilometres from Kukleny. Our multimethod analysis, based on electron and reflected-light microscopy, identified surprising data related to the axes’ chemical composition, including strong evidence of silver and gold coatings, and we analysed the use-wear of the majority of the found axes.