Indagini archeometriche su lingotti di rame del ramo secco rinvenuti a nord del Po (VR)

An archeometric investigation on four ingots (VI-V century BC) classified as aes signatum, found in Oppeano, S.Giorgio di Valpolicella and Gazzo Veronese (Verona, Italy) revealed some interesting insights into their function and provenance and the different steps involved in their production, from the employment of raw materials to the moulding. These are some of the most important questions in the study of Etruscan ingots of pre-coin age. T he indications given by the physico-chemical and microstructural investigations carried out on these ingots, will be verified through an archaeological reconstruction by means of a stratigraphic excavation of the sites and of archaeometric investigations on any further finds discovered on the site. The examined ingots show morphological, ponderal, compositional and microstructural properties comparable to those of aes signatum ingots, found to the north or south of the Po river. These similarities link these sites to the already studied finds of neighbouring sites, proving they also belong to the Etruscan economical-productive cycle which had spread not only across the urban centers but also through smaller areas in this region. There is no proof of the existence of production sites in Etruria beyond the Po river; however, particularly for Oppeano, the considerable presence of ingots for an area which had no artisan activity suggests that this was not simply a result of occasional exchange but was indeed a site of local production, where they remelted objects, such as ingots and ar tefacts.