par Nikis, Nicolas ;Gnat, Danielle;Livingstone Smith, Alexandre ;De Putter, Thierry ;André, Luc
Référence 4th Geologica Belgica International Meeting (11-14 septembre 2012: Bruxelles)
Publication Non publié, 2012
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : Croisettes (cruciform copper ingots) are found in the graves of the Upemba Depression as in other parts of the Katanga Province (D.R. Congo) and in Zambia. These ingots have probably been used as currency units in the but archaeological and historical data are scarce on either the origin of the copper ore used, or on the circulation patterns of these artefacts. The aim of this study was first to look at the chemical composition of the copper used for the croisettes in a spatial, diachronic and synchronic level and, second, to see whether it is possible to link the metal of the artefacts with a known copper ore deposit, using discriminant tracers. In this perspective, we have selected a representative range of croisettes from the collection of the section of Prehistory and Archaeology in the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA). The croisettes belong to Final Classic Kisalian (13th century AD), Kabambian A and Kambambian B (14th to 17th century AD) archaeological contexts. After a preliminary archaeological study assessing critical information such as the typology and relative dating of the artefacts, forty eight croisettes were analysed using LA-ICP-MS at the department of Geology of the RMCA. The results show significant correlation between the elementary composition of the artefacts and their age or geographical origin. Probable links between the artefact groups and copper ore source areas are established using the malachite ore reference collection of the geological section of the RMCA. The results show that there are “shifts” in the ore sourcing through time, opening new avenues of research on large scale economic systems of pre-colonial central Africa.

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