Traditions and Transformations: Approaches to Eneolithic (Copper Age) and Bronze Age Metalworking and Society in Eastern Central Europe and the Carpathian Basin

This is an archaeometallurgical study of the early phases of metallurgy in parts of central and southeastern Europe. Metallographic data from a large series of Eneolithic/Copper Age shaft-hole axes and flat axes is first published here in detail. The findings from this examination are discussed and both groups of implements are compared in terms of variation in their production parameters. This variation is related to both the technological change that came about during the Eneolithic/Copper Age and to a shift in emphasis placed on the production of shaft-hole implements and more mundane flat axes respectively.