PROSPECTING FOR PREHISTORIC COPPER – FIELD OBSERVATIONS FROM A GEOARCHEOLOGICALSURVEY IN SE BULGARIA
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-01-31

The primary and secondary copper deposits of the Medni Rid highland in south eastern Bulgaria close to Burgas have been mined extensively over the last centuries. LiDAR data has been used to identify targets for ground thruthing of geoarcheological and montane archeological interest as well as archeological settlement remains. The localization of prehistoric mines has been aggravated due to intense reworking and overprinting by mining activities from the antique to communist times. Up to now, over 80 findspots – including ore deposits, traces of partially fortified settlements, burial mounds and metallurgical smelting spots – have been found and documented. During a rescue excavation led by P. Leshtakov (Sofia), amongst others remains of ore, crucibles and slagged pottery were found in Chalcolithic layers of the excavated settlement Akladi Cheiri between Chernomorets and Sozopol. These finds indicate an early metallurgical use of copper during the 5th millennium BCE. The evidence of metallurgical ability shows, at least indirectly, an easily recognizable chain of metallurgical activity, beginning with ore extraction through to the production of the artifacts themselves. It seems that the raw material deposits Medni Rid are the first that were exploited for green minerals and even for copper production from the transition from the 6th to the 5th millennium BCE. Neighbouring settlements such as Akladi Cheiri, Budzhaka and Alepu as well as Hadzhidimitrovo and Dana Bunar 2 used the easily accessible copper ores, which must have been exposed to the surface. Due to the rather low copper contents in most pieces of ore only a small amount of metallic copper could be smelted. Nevertheless, it must have been more than for domestic use, because this copper with a characteristic geochemical fingerprint reached Durankulak in northeast Bulgaria and Dăržanica near the Iron Gates of the Danube.


Author(s): Kunze, Rene (Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg)