Depositional Context Research Articles

Sedimentary evolution of a coral-, microbialites- and debris-rich Upper Jurassic reef (upper Tithonian, eastern Sardinia, Italy)

This work investigates a portion of a poorly documented upper Tithonian reef (Lower Mt. Bardia Reef, LBR) developed along the northern platform margin of the eastern Sardinia Platform (ESP). The LBR was probably one of the most southerly reefs of the northern Tethys margin, and this study provides the first comprehensive description of facies and internal structure, giving insights for the depositional setting.Detailed compositional and facies analyses of LBR have been carried out in three quarries located in the Orosei Gulf (eastern Sardinia). The main reef components are represented by carbonate (bioclastic) debris, microbialites and microencrusters, and reef-building organisms (mainly corals and stromatoporoids). These components combine in various proportions, forming several facies and facies associations. Ten reef facies (RF), grouped into three main Facies Associations have been identified within the studied reef portion. The distribution and arrangement of facies reveal a sedimentary evolution, evolving from a microframework-dominated reef to a carbonate debris-dominated one, with the internal reef architecture evolving from massive, to patchy, to coarsely stratified and roughly bedded.The reef components and facies indicate that the investigated portion of the LBR corresponds to a shallow back-reef zone, characterized by well-lit and generally low-energy hydrodynamic conditions, possibly developed in back position with respect to a higher-energy zone that was closer to the edge of the platform. In this depositional context, the arrival of large amounts of debris and the evolving internal architecture are interpreted as the result of the infilling process of the back-reef zone due to the progradation of a sand apron, during a long-term regional regressive phase.

Copper ingots from a probable Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Salcombe, Devon: Composition and microstructure

The seabed site of a probable Bronze Age shipwreck off the coast of Salcombe in south-west England was explored between 1977 and 1982 and from 2004 onwards. Nearly 400 objects including copper and tin ingots, bronze artefacts/fragments and gold ornaments were found, typologically dating either to c. 1300–1150 BC or 1000–800 BC. The 280 copper and 40 tin plano-convex ingots and ingot fragments represent the largest discovery, measured by total weight as well as by quantity, of plano-convex or bun ingots in northwest Europe. The Salcombe copper ingots provided a wonderful opportunity for the technical study of copper ingots in a probable shipwreck context, as opposed to terrestrial contexts of deliberate deposition. The chemical composition of 25 plano-convex copper ingots was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Two artefacts from the site were also analysed for comparison with the ingots. Following the compositional analysis, a microstructural study was carried out on ten Salcombe copper ingots selected to cover those with different sizes, shapes and variable impurity levels using metallography and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS).All the analysed copper ingots are of unalloyed copper with low levels of impurities. Sulphide inclusions are present in all samples and bulk sulphur contents are of 0.32–0.79% in the ingots but lower in the artefacts. The Salcombe ingots were found to have a quite similar impurity pattern to the Hertford Heath (England) ingots (except for iron content). They are distinctly different from the Uluburun ingots, and, to a lesser degree, from Sardinian ingots. The results are inconclusive as to how the Salcombe ingots were made. On the one hand, the very low concentration of iron and the absence of cuprite inclusions suggest that the ingots were primary smelting products of the primitive smelting process rather than produced from re-melting or refining of primary smelting lumps. On the other hand, the dense metal with very low porosity suggests the product of refining and re-casting operations under reducing conditions. However, the small ingots are not likely to have resulted from breaking of large ingots. The chemical compositions of the Salcombe ingots point to British or Western European sources although the connection with other regions cannot be excluded for some of the ingots. Further studies including lead isotope analysis are needed to address the question of provenance of the copper ingots, which would contribute to the re-emerging debates surrounding the European Bronze Age metal trade.

A Zoophycos carnival in Devonian beds: Paleoecological, paleobiological, sedimentological, and paleobiogeographic insights

Devonian occurrences of Zoophycos are often observed in successions representing shelfal deposits and have been interpreted as the first expansion of this trace fossil during the Paleozoic. Dense Zoophycos occurrences in storm-generated Paleozoic beds have been interpreted as the result of ecological opportunist strategy when the tracemaker exploited quiet, nutrient garden substrates after storms. In the Devonian Ponta Grossa Formation (Pragian to Frasnian) of the Paraná Basin (Brazil), Zoophycos is both preserved in storm-generated strata indicating oxyc substrates, and in association with Chondrites and Phycosiphon suggesting dysoxic offshore deposition. This study focuses on the analysis of Zoophycos observed in the Devonian strata to understand the depositional context reflected by paleoecologic strategies and taphonomic signatures. We analyzed the ichnofabrics and sedimentary facies of Devonian sections from the Paraná Basin, focusing on the occurrences of Zoophycos. The tiering structure involving dense Zoophycos ichnofabrics demonstrated that shallower burrows (e.g., Asterosoma, Palaeophycus, Cylindrichnus, Schaubcylindrichnus, Skolithos) reworked deep-tier burrows (Chondrites, Phycosiphon, and Zoophycos), indicating erosion of surficial levels. The dense Zoophycos ichnofabric representing the fair-weather suite obliterated primary sedimentary structures of storm deposits, which favored the visibility of deep-tier structures in a lam-scram pattern. In this sense, dense Zoophycos ichnofabric from Paraná Basin cannot be linked to an opportunistic behavior, but to an over-represented occurrence in space and time, being a taphonomic artifact related to low accommodation space in prograding context. The association with other trace fossils allowed the attribution of Zoophycos as a component of distal and archetypal expressions of Cruziana Ichnofacies rather than Zoophycos Ichnofacies. Concerning the vertical distribution of Zoophycos in the Paraná Basin, this trace appears in strata related to the first occurrence of land plants, being common in the Pragian–Eifelian interval, and declining in upper strata. This decline might be related to a potential structural change of the Paraná Basin during Middle Devonian.

Reassessment of historical sections from the Paleogene marine margin of the Congo Basin reveals an almost complete absence of Danian deposits

The early Paleogene is critical for understanding global biodiversity patterns in modern ecosystems. During this interval, Southern Hemisphere continents were largely characterized by isolation and faunal endemism following the breakup of Gondwana. Africa has been proposed as an important source area for the origin of several marine vertebrate groups but its Paleogene record is poorly sampled, especially from sub-Saharan Africa. To document the early Paleogene marine ecosystems of Central Africa, we revised the stratigraphic context of sedimentary deposits from three fossil-rich vertebrate localities: the Landana section in the Cabinda exclave (Angola), and the Manzadi and Bololo localities in western Democratic Republic of Congo. We provide more refined age constraints for these three localities based on invertebrate and vertebrate faunas, foraminiferal and dinoflagellate cyst assemblages, and carbon isotope records. We find an almost complete absence of Danian-aged rocks in the Landana section, contrary to prevailing interpretations over the last half a century (only the layer 1, at the base of the section, seems to be Danian). Refining the age of these Paleocene layers is crucial for analyzing fish evolution in a global framework, with implications for the early appearance of Scombridae (tunas and mackerels) and Tetraodontiformes (puffer fishes). The combination of vertebrate fossil records from Manzadi and Landana sections suggests important environmental changes around the K/Pg transition characterized by an important modification of the ichthyofauna. A small faunal shift may have occurred during the Selandian. More dramatic is the distinct decrease in overall richness that lasts from the Selandian to the Ypresian. The Lutetian of West Central Africa is characterized by the first appearance of numerous cartilaginous and bony fishes. Our analysis of the ichthyofauna moreover indicates two periods of faunal exchanges: one during the Paleocene, where Central Africa appears to have been a source for the European marine fauna, and another during the Eocene when Europe was the source of the Central Africa fauna. These data indicate that Central Africa has had connections with the Tethyian realm.

Picking up the Pieces: Intercultural Interaction in the Great Lakes Region Examined through Copper-Base Metal Artifacts

This article presents results of attribute analysis of copper-base metal artifacts from early colonial upper Great Lakes archaeological contexts. Patterns of variation were identified, providing evidence for cultural and technological heterogeneity in the production methods and uses of such objects through time at a regional scale. Interrelated factors that influenced observed artifact attributes include contexts of use and deposition, socially structured trading partnerships causing differential availability of raw material, and aesthetic preferences of craftworkers or their communities. Results demonstrate the utility of comparing technological practices evident in diverse material assemblages to investigate regional-scale interaction in contexts of colonialism and intercultural contact.

Acts of Neolithic ritualization associated with Levantine bovine figurines

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates a corpus of Neolithic clay bovine figurines recovered from archaeological sites in the Central and Southern Levant. Despite numerous investigations, their function as utilitarian versus ritual objects is still unclear. In order to assess this issue, the depositional contexts and physical characteristics of just over 500 figurines were examined. The results reveal formalized and repetitive contextual data for the majority of the figurines studied, as well as commonality in their form and modifications. With reference to analogues from later Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft texts, support is found for the identification of the bovine figurines as objects associated with acts of ritualization, especially sacrifice, tied to the veneration of aurochs in Pre-Ceramic Neolithic periods. Furthermore, a symbolic structure linking bulls, sun, fire, ash, purification, fertility and rebirth was identified, possibly tying the bovine figurines to later fire rituals that are celebrated worldwide.

Coins and Cosmologies in Iron Age Western Britain

This paper offers a material culture-based approach to British Western Iron Age coins (i.e. those often attributed to the Dobunni). Through analysis of the materiality and imagery of these objects, the author explores the embodiment of later Iron Age cosmologies. In doing so, the cycles of day and night and of life and death are discussed. The ways in which these cosmologies could have been transposed onto the landscape through coin production and depositional contexts helps to demonstrate how Iron Age societies in Western Britain may have understood their world and confirmed their space within it.

The Depositional Contexts of the Ships from Thonis-Heracleion, Egypt

Over 70 ancient vessels have been discovered by the Institut Europeen d'Archeologie Sous‐Marine in the port‐city of Thonis‐Heracleion, Egypt. These were deposited both individually and in groups fr...

Formation processes at the early Late Pleistocene archaic human site of Lingjing, China

Lingjing, located in northern China, is an open-air spring site dated to ∼90–125 ka through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating. Two late archaic human crania, which possess a mosaic of features indicative of both eastern Eurasian and Neanderthal ancestry, were excavated from the site, along with abundant animal fossils and stone artifacts. Despite Lingjing's obvious significance, detailed analyses of the processes that have influenced site formation and modification have not yet been performed. In this paper we provide an interpretation of the depositional context at Lingjing and we also provide an assessment of the level of site disturbance, both during and post-deposition. Sedimentary and archaeological indicators are employed in this study, and results show that there is differential modification of the stratigraphic horizons, primarily between lower layer 3 and the overlying upper layers 2 and 1. Although this disturbance is apparent, overall its extent is limited. The findings in this study therefore confirm that assemblage integrity at Lingjing is high, and that behavioural information is well preserved.

Response of benthic foraminiferal assemblages to contrasting environments during the Aalenian–Bajocian in the Iberia: a case study from the Talveila section (Iberian Range) and Murtinheira section (Lusitanian Basin)

This paper analyses the composition of the foraminiferal assemblages recorded in two different depositional contexts located in Iberia for the lower Aalenian–lower Bajocian stratigraphical interval: the Talveila section, corresponding to proximal facies within the Iberian Basin (NE Spain), and the Murtinheira section representing distal facies within the Lusitanian Basin (Western Portugal). The obtained specimens (10,736 in total) correspond to 6 suborders, 10 superfamilies, 16 families and 30 genera in Talveila, and 6 suborders, 9 superfamilies, 14 families and 26 genera in Murtinheira. Several biostratigraphic units based on the foraminiferal record and accurately calibrated with the ammonite record were recognized in both sections. Moreover, bioevents based on the first or last appearances of a taxon, significant changes in the abundance of one or several taxa or noticeable changes in diversity of the assemblages were also identified. The palaeoecological analysis shows that the foraminiferal assemblages from both sections were developed in a well-oxygenated and normal salinity shelf environment. The application of diversity indexes indicates that the paleoenvironmental conditions did not remain constant throughout the studied stratigraphic interval; changes recognized in both sections are similar, coeval and correspond to three intervals representing paleoenvironmental conditions more or less favourable for the development of the foraminiferal assemblages. As so, despite the different paleogeographical locations, the development of the assemblages in both sections during the Early Aalenian–Early Bajocian seem to have been conditioned by environmental changes of regional scale, which affected at the same time both the Iberian and the Lusitanian basins.

Missing the point: re-evaluating the earliest lithic technology in the Middle Orinoco

The Culebra site, located in close proximity to the Atures Rapids, is one of the very few open-air occupations in the entire Orinoco valley that is thought to date to the early Holocene. Following renewed excavations in this location, we characterize the stone technology in unprecedented detail and perform both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the assemblage deposited in the first cultural layers. Additionally, we directly date the sediment forming the depositional context of the assemblage using stratigraphically stable components of soil organic matter. Coupled with our stratigraphic and paedological data, the deposit is, contrary to established estimates, shown to date to the late Holocene, well after the appearance of ceramics in the region. The toolkit identified through the lithic analysis, therefore, does not reflect an Archaic hunter–gatherer adaptation as previously assumed. Our findings are placed in the context of previous research in the Orinoco and lowland South America more broadly. More work is needed to understand the changing role of different stone tool reduction sequences with reference to adaptational strategies and bioclimatic variability.

Identifiers as Mechanisms for Linking Archaeological Data across Repositories

Zooarchaeological specimens are the remains of animals, including vertebrate and invertebrate taxa, recovered from, or in association with, archaeological contexts of deposition or surrounding landscapes. The physical scope of zooarchaeological specimens is diverse and includes macro- and micro-zooarchaeological specimens composed of archaeologically preserved bone, shell, exoskeletons, teeth, hair or fur, scales, horns or antlers, as well as geochemical (e.g., isotopes) and biochemical (e.g., ancient DNA) signatures derived from faunal remains. Artifacts and objects created from animal remains, such as bone pins, shell beads, preserved animal hides, are also zooarchaeological specimens. Here we present recent work to utilize identifiers for archaeological samples in new data publishing routines, focusing on key challenges. One critical challenge is that archaeological samples are often composited into different units depending on managers of collections and analysts. Thus, in some cases, when migrating datasets for publication, identifiers can refer to different sets of units, even within the same dataset. Another key challenge is assuring that different repositories can share sample identifiers. We show how Open Context, a site-based archaeology-focused repository that also manages objects such as zooarchaeological material, and VertNet, a specimen-oriented biodiversity repository, have collaborated to share sample identifiers. While this illustrates a success story of linking data across repositories, we discuss the complexity of how “occurrence identifiers,” but not true sample identifiers, in VertNet are propagated to another system where the identifiers point to a similar record called “Animal Bone” in Open Context.

Early carbonate veining and gold mineralization in the Timmins camp: Depositional context of the Dome mine ankerite veins

The earliest auriferous veining event in the development of the over 16 Moz gold endowment at the Dome mine was an extensive set of ankerite veins (over 5400 m strike length). The depositional context of the Dome mine ankerite veins has been historically contentious and their role in the mineralization history of the deposit not well understood. We present a deposit wide geochemical study of the ankerite veins and their host rocks, with observations from new underground mapping. Ankerite veining across the mine is almost exclusively restricted to the Vipond Formation, which is Fe rich and tholeiitic in nature. Metamorphic fluids and ankerite vein formation generally focused along flow boundaries in the volcanic sequence, however, carbonatization is ubiquitous. The flows of the Vipond Formation maintain their protolith geochemical signatures as REE, Zr, Al2O3, TiO2, and Y are largely immobile during mineralization and alteration, which mobilized Na2O, K2O, and locally Fe2O3. The ankerite vein structures are reactivated and overprinted by quartz and quartz-tourmaline veining, and gold grade is variable, ranging from <1 to 98 g/t with the highest grades related to the overprinting veining. Gold in the ankerite veins occurs primarily at the vein margins associated with pyrite mineralization as inclusions, in fractures, or along pyrite grain boundaries. There are no correlations with trace metals and gold, making vectoring towards mineralization difficult. The δ13C and δ18O values for dolomite from the ankerite veins range from −2.2 to 1.0‰ δ13CPDB and 10.8–14.9‰ δ18OVSMOW with averages of −0.7 ± 0.7‰ δ13CPDB and 13.2 ± 1.1‰ δ18OVSMOW (n = 36). There is a trend of increasing δ18OVSMOW values from 10.8 to 14.9‰ down dip of the ankerite veins and to the Northwest, a likely result of decreasing fluid temperatures away from the Dome fault deformation zone. The Dome Fault deformation zone is a region of intensely deformed and carbonatized ultramafic and felsic rock that likely acted as a fluid conduit for the ankerite-forming metamorphic fluids. The intense carbonatizatin that accompanied this fluid event played an important role in the mineralization history of the deposit by facilitating a rheological and geochemical regime favoring D3-4 auriferous vein formation in several regions of the mine by reducing permeability and creating new competency contrasts.

Illuminating the cave, drawing in black: wood charcoal analysis at Chauvet-Pont d'Arc

Abstract

Kanapoi revisited: Paleoecological and biogeographical inferences from the fossil fish

Fish fossils were recovered from three different depositional contexts at the Pliocene Kanapoi site to: 1) test the assumption that habitat and ecology of modern fish taxa can predict habitat and ecology of fossil taxa; 2) reconstruct the lake and river environments in the Kanapoi Formation, with reference to fish fossils from the nearby Lothagam site deposits; and 3) investigate biogeographical inferences from the fossils. We compare the Kanapoi fish taxa and their depositional environments with the taxa and environments in modern Lake Turkana, and with another Plio-Pleistocene fauna from the eastern Turkana Basin. Taphonomic caveats are discussed. Our results support the use of ecological preferences of modern fish to predict past preferences. Our analysis of the Kanapoi fossils also indicates that the Pliocene Lonyumun Lake had a diverse fauna, with an unusual mix of taxa compared to the modern lake. The presence of possibly endemic species in the Pliocene lake may additionally represent a period of isolation during this epoch. Few fish fossils were recovered in the deposits of the ancestral Kerio River, a primary affluent of Lonyumun Lake then as now, but those present indicate a different ecology than that interpreted for the modern lake. Previously unknown fish taxa which enter the lake during the Pliocene suggest the existence of a connection between the Nile River and the Turkana Basin, which may have been viable for other vertebrates, including hominins.

A new approach to prehistoric family systems from the viewpoint of pottery usage: Expanding the potential of archaeological information through contextual analysis

Many studies analysing various artefacts to investigate prehistoric residence and descent rules have focused both on stages of production and final disposal. The stage of usage within artefact life-history has not received much attention. This study develops the methodology for elucidating habitual attitudes to ceramics during their use-life by analysing their depositional contexts in the Jomon period of prehistoric Japan. The ultimate aim is to contribute to the argument about prehistoric family systems. My research materials are the intentionally deposited pottery embedded within house floors from Middle Jomon settlements in the central part of Japan. To understand the context of deposition in detail, precise in-situ contextual information was acquired through collating pottery photographs from all directions taken after post-excavation cleaning with the existing context photographs taken during excavation. The results showed that (i) pottery function was converted from a utilitarian to a ritual constituent during its life-history; (ii) one of the large settlements showed a unique preference in orientation of the deposited pottery, determined by focusing on the originally discoloured part on its surface. These results allowed me to confirm that the preference emerged at the stage of usage prior to functional conversion. Then, based on the fact that several houses within the settlement overlapped each other, and also on the long-standing interpretation of Jomon housing in general that house extension would often follow childbirth, I suggested that (i) coeval houses numbered around five; (ii) the preference in orientation of pottery in daily life was transmitted within a household. I finally proposed the tentative hypotheses that (i) the residents of the settlement with such a unique orientation preference was matrilocal; (ii) inhabitants having the orientation preference in the settlement were relatives of the inhabitants of the house at other settlements who kept the same preference in orientation of the intentionally deposited pottery. This study contributes to the re-evaluation of the existing archaeological remains to elucidate a high-resolution event, as well as to discussions about family systems of the Jomon period in its culmination.

A well‐preserved Eemian incised‐valley fill in the southern North Sea Basin, Belgian Continental Shelf ‐ Coastal Plain: Implications for northwest European landscape evolution

AbstractThis paper demonstrates that the Belgian Continental Shelf and coastal plain occupy a key position between the depositional North Sea Basin and the erosional area of the Dover Strait as it is an area where erosional landforms and fragmented sedimentary sequences provide new evidence on northwest European landscape evolution. The study area hosts 20–30 m thick penultimate to last glacial sand‐dominated sequences that are preserved within the buried palaeo‐Scheldt Valley. Here, we build on the results of previous seismo‐ and lithostratigraphical studies, and present new evidence from biostratigraphical analysis, OSL dating and depth‐converted structure maps, together revealing a complex history of deposition and landscape evolution controlled by climate change, sea‐level fluctuations and glacio‐isostasy. This study presents strong new supportive evidence on the development of the incised palaeo‐Scheldt Valley landform that became established towards the end of the penultimate glacial period (MIS 6; Saalian) as a result of glacio‐isostatic forebulge updoming, proglacial lake drainage and subsequent collapse of a forebulge between East Anglia and Belgium following ice‐sheet growth, disintegration and retreat in areas to the north. The majority of the incised‐valley fill is of estuarine to shallow marine depositional context deposited during the transgression and high‐stand of the last interglacial (MIS 5e: Eemian). A thin upper part of the valley fill consists of last glacial (MIS 5d‐2: Weichselian) fluvial sediments that show a gradual decrease and retreat of fluvial activity to inland, upstream reaches of the valley system until finally the valley ceases to exist as the combined result of climate‐driven aeolian activity and possibly also glacio‐isostatic adjustment. Thus, strong contrasts exist between the palaeo‐Scheldt Valley and estuary systems of the penultimate glacial maximum to Last Interglacial (Saalian, Eemian), the beginning of the Last Glacial (Weichselian Early Glacial and Early‐Middle Pleniglacial), and the Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Microarchaeology of a grain silo: Insights into stratigraphy, chronology and food storage at Late Bronze Age Ashkelon, Israel

Pits and silos are storage features that often occur at prehistoric archaeological sites. Their shape, size and content may show a large degree of variability, and their function may be related to a number of behaviors that can provide valuable insight into the occupational history of a site. Such structures are usually investigated through the study of their macroscopic content, which may include stone, ceramic and metal artifacts, charred remains, and plant material in the case of good preservation conditions. However, pits and silos are generally characterized by complex life cycles that encompass also the partial or total removal of fill deposits, and the re-use of earlier structures, which hinder a proper interpretation of their function. This requires the application of a microarchaeological approach to the study of the sedimentary matrix of fill deposits, especially when macroscopic remains are absent or not uniquely related to a specific human activity. Here we present the study of a series of pits from the Late Bronze Age levels at Ashkelon, Israel, which were characterized by multiple fills layers. Using a combination of infrared spectrometry, phytolith analysis, and micromorphology of sediments, we show that one of the pits was used as grain silo and maintained through time. Radiocarbon dating of charred wheat seeds recovered from the primary depositional context thus identified caused a fundamental re-evaluation of the stratigraphy of the excavation area and a better understanding of its chronology.

Characterization of ore-forming systems – advances and challenges

Abstract Economically viable concentrations of mineral resources are uncommon among the predominantly silicate-dominated rocks in Earth's crust. Most ore deposits that were mined in the past or are currently being extracted were found at or near Earth's surface, often serendipitously. To meet the future demand for mineral resources, exploration success hinges on identifying targets at depth, which, on the one hand, requires advances in detection and interpretation techniques for geophysical and geochemical data. On the other hand, however, our knowledge of the chain of events that lead to ore deposit formation is limited. As geoscience embraces an integrated Earth systems approach, considering the geodynamic context of ore deposits can provide a step change in understanding why, how, when and where geological systems become ore-forming systems. Contributions to this volume address the future resources challenge by: (i) applying advanced microscale geochemical detection and characterization methods; (ii) introducing more rigorous 3D Earth models; (iii) exploring critical behaviour and coupled processes; (iv) evaluating the role of geodynamic and tectonic setting; and (v) applying 3D structural models to characterize specific ore-forming systems.

The Wrocław–Szczytniki flanged axe from Koperniki

This work is a contribution to archaeometallurgical studies on the Únětice axes in Poland. The research was initiated by a single find of the Wrocław–Szczytniki flanged axe recovered from the village of Koperniki (Lower Silesia, Poland). The axe was examined in terms of raw–material profile (ED–XRF) as well as its micro-, and macrostructure (OM). The spatial distribution, deposition context, and raw–material profiles of the remaining Únětice axes from Central-Eastern Europe, with a special emphasis put on those recovered from the Polish land, were also juxtaposed throughout this work. It has been established that the axe from Koperniki was cast in standard Sn–bronze alloyed from so-called Eastern Alpine copper, and thus, the axe may be considered as one of the very last Wrocław–Szczytniki specimens emerging in the Odra and Vistula Basins. Although the casting was intensively plastic-worked out, the axe from Koperniki itself was not used in the past. Hence, the statement that the axe was intended to serve as a prestigious or insignia metal object rather than fulfil utilitarian functions seems reasonable. The obtained conclusions indicate that the single wet–findings of the Wrocław–Szczytniki axes (including the specimen from Koperniki) reflect indeed the aquatic hierophanies of single hoards. Furthermore, having analysed the results of the research performed we can state that the raw–material profile of some Únětice axes presents the chronological sensitivity, and thus, confirms their usability for raw-material dating, especially concerning so-called single finds.