Rudna Glava in the Foreground of Recent Overviews of the Beginnings of Copper Mining in Europe and of the Development of Archaeometallurgy

Abstract

The site of Rudna Glava was discovered in the 1960s and investigated by Dr Borislav Jovanović. The site yielded extensive and well-preserved evidence of early copper mine works that provided an important insight into the prehistoric mining activities in Europe. This brief commentary aims to call attention to the most recent recognition in the literature of the importance of the Rudna Glava mining site for understanding the beginnings of prehistoric copper extraction in Europe and worldwide, as well as the development of the study of early metallurgy.