Items made of native copper from Eneolithic settlements in Karelia: new analytical data

The paper presents results of recently conducted geochemical investigations of a series of copper objects originating from settlements dated to different stages of the Eneolitic period in Karelia. Our findings suggest four stages of development of metal (copper) working in the region and exploitation of its resource base. This study is the first to discover evidence demonstrating that the ancient population of this region used not only native copper in the Trans-Onega region but also exploited other ore occurrences located in the southern part of Karelia.