The early medieval origins of copper ore extraction in the Carpathian Mountains

Abstract

The case study addresses the question of the early medieval revival of copper production in Europe. The focus of the research area is the Carpathian Basin, located on the eastern periphery of the zone influenced by European early medieval processes. The research of where and when early medieval metal production started in the region in our case also provides answers to the question of how the region was linked to the European continental economic network, which is until recently an unresolved problem. Ore extraction and the production of various non-ferrous metals (copper, silver, gold) had important centres in the Carpathian Mountains throughout the Middle Ages until the Modern Era. Concerning the Avar period, our study comprises lead isotope and chemical analyses of ‘Late Avar’ (c. 8th century AD) copper rivets, used for certain purposes alongside the copper alloys predominant in the period. As rivets were selected from the entire Avar cultural area, expanding virtually to all lowland and hilly areas in the Carpathian Basin, results are representative of the entire region. It shows that Avar craftsmen producing large quantities of copper alloy objects in the 8th and the early 9th century were supplied with copper from a single mining district, from the ore deposits of the Slovak Ore Mountains in the today Central Slovakia, a region which became an important metal-processing centre in the 11th century AD.