P22
Metallurgy of Bronze and itinerant artisans
In the Bronze Age society, few villages could house permanently specialized artisans able to work
the bronze. Therefore, the itinerant artisan was essential.
The first phase corresponded to the collection of the rail material (mainly junks). Later, it was
exchanged with the new finished products based on the weight. An evidence of this procedure is the
finding of warehouses with weapons, new ornaments ready to be consigned, old objects to refund
and fusion ingots. Some fragments of ingots to refund – but also used as medium of exchange,
before the introduction of the coin – come from the graves located in Piave Road and Moretta
quartier. Because of their unfamiliarity with the local community, these itinerant artisans were
considered the ones who usually violated the tombs with the metal objects that they hidden.
In the showcase n. 10, some fragments of ceramics (n. 1); among some bronze findings, you
have a fragment of the top of a pin (n. 2.1) and a fragment of tin (n. 2.6), two worls; two
handles and a bone scratch awl (n. 3.9); wooden semi-carved splinters (n. 3.10)
– Fusion molds for the long swords, type Ebenheim in three different measures, from Piverone
(Archaeological Museum of Turin)
– Reconstruction of a laboratory specialized in the bronze fusion, dated back to the Late
Bronze Age (approximately 1000 BC) (Landesmuseum, Zurich)
– Localization of the main metallic objects between the Early Bronze Age and the Early
Bronze Age.