Asce in rame “a margini rialzati” fra IV e III millennio a.C. in Italia: un approccio tracceologico

The author revises the issue of chronology and technology of the so-called copper flanged axes under the perspective of Metalwork Wear Analysis, or traceology. The appearance of axes with raised margins in the Italian Copper Age has been recently ascertained based on radiocarbon dating of closed contexts. Nonetheless, the typological notion of flanged axes is not without problems, since they could have been in many cases the outcome of fundamentally unintentional post-casting hammering actions aimed at implementing the grip of the shaft. The Wear Analysis of 25 copper axes here presented confirms the wide variety of morphologies of flanges, from tiny and low ripples to discrete flanges and the frequent occurrence of traces of hammer blows. While the old idea of a definite chronological and typological significance of this technical feature needs to be revised, its development as a standard element of copper axes from the late 4th to the late 3rd millennium BC is a meaningful phenomenon which discloses the improvement of forging techniques.