Fig 1.
Location of Prigglitz-Gasteil and the surrounding sample findspots.
Cartography from the Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen (BEV) with kind permission from BEV, original copyright [2021]. 1 Prein an der Rax; 2 Reichenau-Kammerwandgrotte; 3 Heufeld-Heukogel; 4 Gloggnitz (Semmeringtunnelportal); 5 Prigglitz-Gasteil/Bürg (Klausgraben); 6 Prigglitz-Gasteil (Kapelle); 7 Sieding (Murrer); 8 Grünbach am Schneeberg-Gelände; 9 Kranichberg-Karlhöhe; 10 Sieding; 11 Pottschach; 12 Ternitz-Gfieder; 13 Flatz-Gösing; 14 Ternitz-St. Johann; 15 Mahrersdorf; 16 Neunkirchen/Natschbach-Klosteräcker; 17 Urschendorf.
Table 1.
Objects analysed in this paper.
Fig 2.
Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria).
Plan of the Late Bronze Age site, showing visible terrain features and excavation areas on terraces T3 and T4. Aerial photograph: © Land Niederösterreich, with kind permission.
Fig 3.
Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria).
Analyses of select copper and copper alloy finds from the Late Bronze Age mining settlement (1–5 casting cakes; 8 casting cone; 9 casting sprue; 12–13 arrowheads; 14–15 rings; 16–17 knives; 18–19 dress pins; 20–25 awls; 26–27 belt clips; 28–29 bar fragments; 30 wire fragment; 31 bracelet fragment; 32 tubelet fragments; 33 tip fragment; 34 bar fragment). Scale 1:2 (drawings by Daniela Fehlmann and Ulrike Weinberger). The numbers correspond to those in the tables.
Fig 4.
Selected copper and copper alloy finds from the Prigglitz-Gasteil surroundings.
All sites are located in Lower Austria (see Fig 1). No 37: Prigglitz-Gasteil, Klausgraben; no 55, 56, 57, 60, 61: Grünbach-Gelände; no 67, 68: Neunkirchen-Klosteräcker; no 71, 72: Pottschach; no 88: Reichenau-Kammerwandgrotte; no 99: Sieding-Murrer; no 101: Ternitz-Gfieder. Scale 1:4 (drawings no 37, 88, 101: Franz Drost; no 55–57: Anton Distelberger; no 61: Daniela Fehlmann; no 71, 72, 99: unknown artist, reproduced from the publications quoted in Table 1; photographs: no 60: Michael Konrad; no 67, 68: Peter Trebsche). The numbers correspond to those in the tables.
Table 2.
Chemical analyses of the objects are given in wt.%; the chemical analyses of the copper ore samples are given in ppm (italic), despite for Cu and Fe.
The chemical composition was analysed using NAA (ores) and XRF (all other objects). Tellurium was detected in all drilling samples of the objects at < 0.005 wt.%, but not in the metallographic ones. For some of the objects, both drillings and metallographic samples were analysed (nos. 60, 61, and 83).
Table 3.
Lead isotope ratios for the materials studied.
Fig 5.
Logarithmic plots of Ni and Ag trace elements of copper ores from different sources.
The values are normalized to copper and based on regional, interdisciplinary investigations of the specific mining regions [9, 36, 45, 46].
Fig 6.
Logarithmic plots of Ni and Ag, Ni and As, and As and Sb trace elements.
Fig 7.
Bivariate lead isotope plot with isotope ratio comparison pulldown menu.
The included supplemental data file allows for interactive zooming and data comparison, hiding data points, and saving still images. The data for these diagrams derive from [9, 44, 46, 54–58, 62, 63].
Fig 8.
Ternary lead isotope plot with ore source envelopes.
The included supplemental data file allows for interactive zooming and data comparison, hiding envelopes and data points, and saving still images.
Table 4.
Observed object-site matches, which overlap within several ore envelopes in the ternary diagram.