Metalworking in Poland Began Centuries Earlier Than Historians Thought

New analysis of lead artifacts dated between 800 and 500 B.C. pushes back the start of metal ore extraction and metallurgy in Poland.

The team included scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at Jagiellonian University, the University of Science and Technology in Krakow, the National Center for Nuclear Research in Otwock, and the University of Warsaw. They used isotopic analysis to trace the lead’s origin, Arkeonews reports. The results showed the items were made from lead sulfide sourced from the Olkusz deposits.

A necklace made from a lead tube from the early Iron Age (800–500 B.C.), found in a cemetery in Jankowice, Lesser Poland.

What Did the Scientists Discover?

Overall, the researchers examined eleven lead artifacts from late Lusatian cultural burial sites. Material analysis confirmed that most of the artifacts were crafted from local ore. This suggests the Olkusz deposits were exploited a millennium earlier than scholars previously believed.

Dr. Karol Dzengelewski from the Institute of Archaeology at Jagiellonian University explained that historical records and geochemical data previously indicated use of the Olkusz deposits during the Roman period and the Middle Ages. However, recent findings push the timeline for exploiting these deposits back into the first millennium B.C.

“It can be assumed that the extraction and smelting of metal ores in Poland began around the 8th or 7th century B.C., with lead being used initially rather than copper,” Dr. Dzengelewski said.

A lead ring from the early Iron Age (800–500 B.C.), found at a burial site in Swieb, Silesian Voivodeship.

The team plans to continue their research and ultimately reconstruct patterns of raw-material distribution for metallurgy, particularly copper alloys, from the Bronze Age (around 2000 B.C.) to the end of the early Iron Age (about 450 B.C.).

The researchers aim to expand the database of isotopic signatures for lead and tin associated with artifacts from this period. For iron artifacts, the team will analyze slag chemistry and apply methods including osmium and strontium isotopic analysis. They will compare their results with extensive geochemical data on Europe’s oldest metal ore deposits.

The study was published in the journal Archaeometry.