The copper axe blade of Zug-Riedmatt (Canton of Zug, Switzerland) – a key to chronology and metallurgy in the second half of the fourth millennium BC

Abstract

The copper axe blade discovered in the pile dwelling site of Zug-Riedmatt is one of the few Neolithic copper axe blades in Europe that can be dated with certainty. The blade’s form and its metal composition suggest that it is connected both to the south – more specifically to Copper Age cultures in northern Italy and southern Tuscany – and to the copper axe of the famous ice mummy of Tisenjoch (called ‘the Iceman’ or ‘Ötzi’). We were able to confirm this connection to the south by measuring the lead isotope composition of the blade, which traces the blade’s origin to Southern Tuscany. Due to these links to the south, the copper axe blade of Zug-Riedmatt can be described as a key to understanding Neolithic metallurgy north of the Alps in the second half of the fourth millennium BC. As the classification of the blade will have far-reaching consequences in regard to chronology and cultural history, we have decided to make the results of our analyses available as quickly as possible – even if this means that for now we can only discuss some basic results and assumptions about the blade’s context.