The process of making articles from native copper at the Orovnavolok site with rhomb-pit ware

The article presents materials from the early Eneolithic site of Orovnavolok with rhomb-pit ceramics, studied by an expedition of Petrozavodsk University on the northeastern shore of Povenets Bay of Lake Onega. During the work at the settlement, a series of numerous items made from native copper were discovered. The main purpose of the study is to obtain data on the nature of making copper articles at the early stage of metal development by the ancient population of Fennoscandia. A geochemical method was used to analyze the composition of copper artifacts. The analysis revealed that they are made of pure, almost impurity-free, native copper, associated by origin with ore deposits in the Zaonezhye region and the northwestern part of Lake Onega. Cold forging technique was probably used at the site to make beads, knives, and fishing hooks. By drawing parallels with radiocarbon-dated samples of rhomb-pit ceramics from other settlements in Karelia, it is estimated that the Orovnavolok site dates back to the first half of the fourth millennium BC. These findings offer valuable insights into the operations of the oldest metalworking center in Northern Europe.