UCL Institute of Archaeology

• MA, MSc, Magistar
  
• AHRC Research Associate

Current Research Project

The rise of metallurgy in Eurasia: Evolution, organisation and consumption of early metal in the Balkans

One of the most significant technological achievements in human history is the transformation of matter, most spectacularly the invention of metallurgy. This triggered a whole new era of fundamental economic, social and cultural changes. Recent excavations at Belovode in Serbia revealed copper smelting dated to c. 5000 BC, making it the earliest record of fully-developed metallurgical activity anywhere in the world (Radivojevic et al. 2010). How and why this earliest metallurgy emerged and developed in the Balkans, apparently independently from the Near East, is at the centre of this AHRC-funded research project.

This UK-Serbian joint venture, together with prominent German colleagues, is a collaboration also designed to exchange knowledge and skills as well as build lasting relationships for the future. The project combines targeted excavations and surveys at three copper mining, production and consumption sites in Serbia with intensive scientific analysis of finds at laboratories in Britain and Germany. The excavations focus on known metal workshops in two sites, and a prospective third site associated with prehistoric mines. Through a combination of these different approaches to archaeometallurgy, combining fieldwork, technological reconstruction, and theoretical considerations of cultural development, the project looks afresh at the technological, social and environmental context in which metal first appeared and was subsequently shaped, distributed and used across the Balkans.

Read more about the project launch (July 2012) here»

Research Interests

Archaeometallurgy; Ancient economies; Balkan Archaeology; Neolithic and Chalcolithic archaeology; Archaeometry

Collaborations

• National Museums Belgrade, Prokuplje and Priboj
• Centre for Research in Archaeological Materials, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
• Republic Institute for Heritage Protection, Belgrade
• University of Tuebingen
• German Mining Museum
• Roman Germanic Commission
• School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh

Funding

• EPSRC
• Institute of Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies
• Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Foundation
• Recipient of the Elia Campbell Scholarship 2012

Educational Background

• 2008-2012, UCL Institute of Archaeology - PhD in Archaeology (submitted)
  Thesis title: On the Origins of Metallurgy in Europe: Metal Production in the Vinča culture
• 2004- 2010, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology - Magistar in Archaeology (cum lauda)
  Thesis title: Early Chalcolithic Copper Metallurgy in central Balkans
• 2006-2007, UCL Institute of Archaeology - MSc in Technology and Analysis of Archaeological Materials (Distinction)
  Thesis title: Early Evidence for Copper Smelting in Belovode, a Vinča culture site in Eastern Serbia
• 1999-2004, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology - MA in Archaeology (cum lauda)
  Thesis title: Typology and Distribution of Copper Artefacts from Pločnik, Southeast Europe

• 2010 Radivojević, M., Rehren, Th., Pernicka, E., Šljivar, D., Brauns, M. & Borić, D. On the Origins of Extractive Metallurgy: New Evidence from Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 2775-2787.
  
• 2010 Rehren, Th. and M. Radivojević. A preliminary report on the slag samples from Çamlıbel Tarlası. Archäologischer Anzeiger 2010, 207-216.
  
• 2006 Radivojević, M. A Contribution to the Typology and Distribution of Hammer Axes of Pločnik type in Southeast Europe (in Serbian). Journal of Serbian Archaeological Society 22, 211-224.
  
• 2003 Crnobrnja, A. N. & M. Radivojević. Archaeological Survey of Bukovac and its Surrounding. Archaeological Reports (Serbian Archaeological Society) 1, 71-77.
  
• 2000 Radivojević, M. Typology and Distribution of Copper Artefacts from Pločnik Hoards in Southeast Europe (in Serbian). Selected Papers from the Petnica Science Centre Students 51/100, 210-225.