Experts are uncovering the secrets of one of the oldest stone molds for casting metal objects in our territory. Specifically, it is a stone mold that was used in the Bronze Age for the mass production of spearheads. It was found in 2007 by the owner of one of the houses in the village of Morkůvky in southern Moravia in his garden. Experts involved in the RES-HUM project, in cooperation with the Archaeological Institute of the Moravian Museum, have now discovered that this prehistoric mold traveled to our territory from the Carpathians, specifically from what is now Hungary. Transport over such a distance is quite exceptional.
The stone mold, which weighs 1.09 kg, was found in 2007 during work in the garden. One corner of the stone protruded from the ground and originally formed the foundations of a barn. According to experts, the prehistoric mold for casting spearheads was brought here sometime in modern times from a nearby archaeological site of the Urnfield culture.
The find from Morkůvky in the Břeclav region is uniquely preserved. "Prehistoric casters poured tin bronze into vertically positioned halves of a mold held together with copper wire. In this case, the result of their work was spearheads with pear-shaped blades, ribs with profiled leaves, and ribs in the leaf part of the socket," describes Jan Petřík from the Institute of Geological Sciences at Masaryk University.
The type of spear described is rare in Moravia, commonly found in the Carpathian region and mostly dated to the Late Bronze Age (1300/1250 – 1050/1020 BC). Petrographic analysis conducted by Antonín Přichystal from the Institute of Geological Sciences at Masaryk University also pointed to historical Hungary. According to the analysis, the casting mold was made of rhyolite tuff, a rock that occurs in sufficient quantities closest to northern Hungary. "The mold from Morkůvky is thus demonstrably the result of long-distance import and further evidence of Carpathian influences in the environment of the Middle Danube Urnfield culture," said Petřík.
Casting molds, which attest to metallurgical or foundry production, are still relatively rare among Bronze Age finds, and their number does not correspond to the enormous quantity of bronze artifacts and bronze castings. Solid permanent molds, mostly stone, rarely bronze, were used repeatedly and enabled mass production.
The stone mold from Morkůvky itself has exceptional informative value compared to other finds. "Despite minor damage, it is one of the best-preserved halves of casting molds of this type in the Czech Republic. It bears unmistakable macroscopic traces of repeated and intensive use associated with thermal stress," added Petřík.
The stone mold is now part of the collections of the Moravian Museum (MZM), which acquired it in 2024. Milan Salaš from the MZM also participated in its research as part of a long-term conceptual development project for research organizations provided by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
Link to the article: https://archeologickerozhledy.cz/index.php/ar/article/view/272/281
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