Metallurgical and technological investigation with experimental archaeometallurgical reproduction of a Lombard bronze buckle from North Italy

A metallurgical and technological characterization of a seventh century bronze buckle coming from the Lombard necropolis of Monte San Zeno in Montichiari (Brescia, northern Italy) was performed to understand the manufacturing techniques. At first, a careful inspection was carried out to highlight the existence of any type of details, which would indicate an intentional design activity or typical casting defects. To avoid destructive measures on the ancient artifact, the buckle was successively characterized only via scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. This investigation was supported by an accurate study on the chemical composition of the matrix. The results suggest that the buckle was produced by sand casting, although the use of this technique in Europe dates back to the fifteenth century. Finally, based on the results obtained, a faithful archaeometallurgical reproduction of the buckle is proposed.