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Energy expenditure calculations have been used in archaeology mainly to describe construction processes (e. g. of megalithic tombs and grave mounds, see Müller 1990, Schulze-Forster/Vorlauf 1990). However, energy expenditure calculations prove to be a valid tool to approach questions of production and consumption in Bronze Age societies. This offers the possibility to study the production of copper and bronze artefacts in a quantitative way. Archaeological finds and features indicate a series of changes in metal processing technology at the end of the Early and the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (around 1600 BC) in Central Europe. The oxidizing smelting process is replaced by a smelting technique that runs under reducing conditions. The reducing process allows the production of larger amounts of metal and a greater standardisation, but presupposes a more complex furnace construction, which is indicated by furnace features from the Eastern Alps. In the later phase of the Early Bronze Age a change in alloying from arsenical copper and copper with a low tin content to tin copper with approximately ten percent of tin occurs. An examination of the archaeological material and the systematic evaluation of experimental results show that these changes in metalworking technology are accompanied by an increase in energy expenditure required for the production of copper and bronze artefacts and an increased demand for wood resources. The calculation of the energy expenditure – including all production steps – gives a comparative value (in person hours) for every copper or bronze artefact measured by their weight. These person hours do not, however, reflect the economic or intrinsic value of the object, as the concept of energy expenditure calculations was created in and for modern times. Nevertheless, the presented method represents a new quantitative approach that allows for comparison between different (types of) copper and bronze artefacts.

EAA2021: Abstract

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