Technological characterisation of early Medieval gilded copper hollow pendants (gombiky), from Mikulčice (Moravia) and Prague Castle (Bohemia)

Autor: Estelle Ottenwelter, Lumír Poláček, C. Josse, Jan Frolík, Š. Krupičková, L. Barčáková, L. Robbiola
Přispěvatelé: Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES), École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ARUP / CAS), Czech Academy of Sciences [Prague] (CAS), Centre de microcaractérisation Raimond Castaing (Centre Castaing), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées - Toulouse (INSA Toulouse), Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université de Toulouse (UT), Grant project from the Czech Science Foundation (GACR) – No. 405/12/2195 (burial group in Prague Castle’s Lumbe Garden: analysis of jewellery and grave goods dated to the beginnings of Prague Castle), Grant project from the Czech Science Foundation (GACR) – No. 17-01879S (lifestyle and identity of the Great Moravian nobility: archaeological and bio-archaeological analysis of evidence of Mikulčice’s uppermost elites), Grant project from institutional support: RVO 67985912– the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Prague., Grant project from institutional support: RVO 68081758 – the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology,Brno.
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020, 12 (145), 1-22 + SI p.23. ⟨10.1007/s12520-020-01084-4⟩
ISSN: 1866-9565
1866-9557
DOI: 10.1007/s12520-020-01084-4
Popis: International audience; Gilded copper hollow spherical pendants known as gombiky (s. gombik) were examined to identify the technology of gilding and the material chosen as the substrate. The examined ornaments dating from the ninth and tenth centuries AD were recovered from elite graves of two major political, ecclesiastical and economic centres of the Early Medieval period located in the territory of the present-day Czech Republic: Mikulčice and Prague Castle, major sites of Moravia and Bohemia, respectively. Taking into account the state of degradation and possible bias due to earlier restorations, surface and bulk characterisation of the gilded material has been performed combining optical observation, X-ray radiography, metallography, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS analysis) and focused ion beam (FIB) milling mounted on FEG-SEM. The manufacturing procedure was reproduced by experimental archaeology. A detailed investigation of the gilded artefacts revealed several types of gombik construction involving different mounted elements, including the main body parts and the suspension system elements joined by hard soldering. The different constitutive parts are made with almost pure copper or low-purity copper. The systematic use of fire gilding (mercury amalgam gilding) was documented. Differences in the materials that were used and technical quality show the coexistence of finely produced objects by highly skilled and knowledgeable jewellers alongside more coarsely manufactured imitations. These variations are discussed in terms of different workshops in a possible relationship with their origin of manufacture.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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