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This paper is an overview of the work developed by our group in the investigations of museum objects and alluvial gold, reflected in a series of studies published between 2000–2011, supplemented with new results, unpublished up-to-date. The X-ray based spectrometric techniques employed range from various X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) investigations to ion beam analysis, including synchrotron radiation XRF and micro-Particle Induced X-ray Emission. The gold objects discussed are mainly part of the Sarmizegetusa Dacian hoards—spiraled bracelets (armbands) and coins. After obtaining in 2011 the permission of the Romanian authorities to take very small (1–2 mg) samples from the most 'unimportant' areas of the Dacian bracelets and several Koson staters, to analyze them by micro-SR-XRF at BESSY, in February 2012, the investigation of several micro-areas of 17 stater and 28 bracelet samples revealed important micro-structural inhomogeneity, especially in Sn and Cu. The same inhomogeneous micro-structure has been seen in Transylvanian alluvial gold. The analyses revealed details on the fingerprint of geological gold deposits and also the main characteristics of ancient gold metallurgy procedures used by the Dacians: a relatively low temperature (lower than Au melting point) and hammering during heating to obtain an ingot through sintering. The use of the sintering procedure was proved for the spiraled bracelets and the Koson without monogram coins, a tradition starting in the Bronze Age in Transylvanian gold processing. The existence of micro-inclusions of Ta-minerals in alluvial gold was also detected, explaining Ta trace presence in the artifacts from the Pietroasa hoard.
This study intends to clarify the metal provenance of gold archaeological items using the variation of the Au–Ag ratio and the presence of trace elements as Sn, Sb, Te, and Pb, concentrating on gold Dacian Koson coins, recovered recently. It also extends the area of our investigations to the copper provenance of Bronze Age artifacts—axes, sickles, and celts—found on Romanian territory. The experiments were performed by micro-SR XRF at BESSY Berlin, at the BAM-line facility. Two types of coins (Koson, with and without monogram) were analysed. The conclusions we reached were that most of the monogram coins are made from refined gold (3–5% Ag, less than 0.5% Cu), while the without monogram coins are made from native Transylvanian gold (9–20% Ag, 0.5–2% Cu), of alluvial origin, proved by the presence of Sn, Sb and Te embedded in the gold. The problem of provenance for prehistoric Romanian copper and bronze objects consists in linking their elemental compositional patterns to the ones of the Bronze Age regional mines from Bulgaria, Serbia or Transylvania, most likely used as ore sources for their manufacture. The studied samples present relevant traces of As, Ag, Sb, and Co, suggesting the most probable use of copper from Serbia or northern Bulgaria for their manufacture.