As part of the research project Metals & Giants, an international team of scholars has provided new insights into the Bronze Age metal trade.
During the Bronze Age, the Nuraghe culture thrived in Sardinia. It is best known for its tower-like stone structures, called nuraghers, and for the small bronze figurines known as bronzetti, which frequently portray warriors, deities, and animals. These artifacts have long intrigued researchers, yet the precise origins of their metal remained uncertain.
To determine where the copper used in the bronzetti came from, the research team applied a scientific technique known as a multi-proxy approach (a method combining several chemical analyses). By examining isotopes of copper, tin, lead, and the less common element osmium, they were able to build a more accurate picture of the metals’ sources. This approach, created at the Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry in Mannheim, has finally provided answers to a question that has challenged scholars for years.
“The results show that bronzetti was primarily made from copper from Sardinia, sometimes mixed with copper from the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal). The study also revealed that copper from the Levant – places like Timna in Israel and Faynan in Jordan – was not used in Sardinia, which was only made clear by looking at osmium isotopes,” says first author Daniel Berger from the Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry, who developed the new method, performed the analyses, and provided the basic interpretation.
Collaboration between natural science and archaeology
Daniel Berger highlights how the new isotope analysis method offers a precise way to determine the geographic sources of copper, while Helle Vandkilde stresses the importance of combining natural science with archaeology.
“Archaeological methods establish a strong foundation that the latest scientific methods can refine and explain. This will bring old discussions to an end. In our case, the very latest geochemical knowledge points to the origin of the metal in specific geographical areas and certain mines. It is also possible in several cases to trace a strategic mix of copper with different origins; Presumably to achieve certain effects such as the product’s color and strength,” says Professor Helle Vandkilde from Aarhus University.
The team also studied three of the largest Nuraghian shrines, all of which produced bronzetti, and found that the metals used at these sites were nearly identical. This consistency suggests that the manufacture of bronzetti followed a shared tradition across Sardinia.
Interestingly, the researchers note that although Sardinia has its own deposits of tin and lead, these were not used in the figurines. The tin needed to create bronze must have been brought in from outside the island, most likely from the Iberian Peninsula, as indicated by the isotopic signatures in the bronzetti and the chemical composition of Sardinian tin artifacts.
“Having the opportunity to analyse the famous bronze figures from Sardinia is an important step towards understanding how the island has been a central piece of the metal trade during the Bronze Age. The shape and execution of the figures fit into the material culture of the period, and yet they contain stylistic features that feel amazingly familiar to us in southern Scandinavia. We only have to think of the Viksø helmets or the warriors on our petroglyphs wearing helmets adorned with horns. With new knowledge about where the metal for these figures came from, we are now one step closer to mapping the connections between Sardinia and Scandinavia,” says Associate Professor at Moesgaard Heide Wrobel Nørgaard.
A Nordic connection
Field studies in collaboration between Aarhus University and Moesgaard Museum have demonstrated hitherto unknown connections between Sardinia and the Nordic countries in the Bronze Age 1000-800 BC.
Iconic horned helmets, which we know from Viksø, Kallerup, Grevensvænge, and Tanum, also appear in Sardinia, both in miniature and giant formats. In both places, these unique horn-helmeted figures are found.
Reference: “Multiproxy analysis unwraps origin and fabrication biographies of Sardinian figurines: On the trail of metal-driven interaction and mixing practices in the early first millennium BCE” by Daniel Berger, Valentina Matta, Nicola Ialongo, Heide W. Nørgaard, Gianfranca Salis, Michael Brauns, Mads K. Holst and Helle Vandkilde, 10 September 2025, PLOS ONE.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0328268
The project ‘Metals & Giants’ is supported by the Augustinus Foundation.
First author: Daniel Berger (Curt-Engelhorn Center for Archaeometry), has developed the new method for determining the origin of copper, performed the analyses and was responsible for the basic interpretation.
Additional archaeological research contributions come from Aarhus University (Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies) and Moesgaard represented by Professor Helle Vandkilde, Associate Professor Heide Wrobel Nørgaard and Postdoc Nicola Ialongo.
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