Bronze Age copper ingots from the Domažlice region compared with the Mutěnín copper ore deposit in western Bohemia (Central Europe)

Abstract This paper discusses the possible prehistoric exploitation of the local copper ore deposit Mutěnín-Měděnka in the Domažlice region, of western Bohemia, Central Europe. The research project deals with a possible relationship of the Bronze Age casting cake ingots discovered in this region to this historically documented mine. The study is based on the detailed material analysis of the ingots and geochemical characterization of samples of chalcopyrite and secondary copper minerals from this deposit. The results considerably help to extend the so far very limited knowledge of the origin of the Bronze Age copper material in Bohemia and reveal its position in the complex structure of the material distribution network within Central Europe. Provenance analyses of copper raw material combined the determination of lead isotope ratios by HR-MC-ICP-MS with chemical composition data obtained by INAA, ICP-MS and ED-XRF. The research provides new evidence for the origin of the casting cakes copper material in the late EBA or early MBA in Bohemia. Their origin is from chalcopyrite deposits in the eastern and southeastern Alps. Possible exploitation of sulphidic copper minerals from the Mutěnín-Měděnka local deposit in the LBA period has not been proven.