The metal compositions of a series of Geistingen-type socketed axes

Abstract

The bulk metal compositions of twelve socketed axes of the Geistingen type are determined in a fully non-destructive manner by neutron resonance-capture analysis (NRCA). These axes named after a hoard found in Geistingen, a Belgian village along the Dutch-Belgium part of the river Meuse, are considered in the literature to be votive or prestigious objects from the Late Bronze Age. They contain considerable amounts of antimony, arsenic, silver and nickel, adding up to 6–16 wt%. Seven axes have no detectable, or little tin; the other five objects contain 6–12 wt% tin. The compositions of the Geistingen axes are evidence for a further example of the return to the Early Bronze Age practice of smelting fahlore related minerals. In addition time-of-flight neutron diffraction (TOF-ND) was carried out on two of these axes to get information about the crystalline structure, the occurrence of sulfides and oxides, the lead content and intermetallic compounds. The diffraction lines show a splitting related to two solid solutions in α-phase copper, which is explained with a simple solidification model.