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A complete copper-alloy linchpin in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM 918.33.95), ostensibly with the Irish provenance of ‘Dunmore, Co. Galway’ and found in 1855, is a component of the axle assemblage of a wheeled vehicle. It has no archaeological context, but typological and decorative parallels indicate a date in the range c. 750–600 BC, and a Continental origin. It draws attention once more to the vexed questions both of the existence and the nature of the wheeled driving vehicle in later Bronze Age Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ten Early Bronze Age (BzA1, 2200–2000 BC) copper artefacts from the central Valais region from Switzerland were studied for their elemental composition and lead isotope ratios. In order to answer the archaeological question of a local copper supply, a database for copper minerals across the Valais (Switzerland) has been established. This database contains 69 data on lead isotope ratios as well as additional information on the minerals and geochemical associations for copper minerals from 38 locations in the Valais. Comparisons of the artefacts were also made with data pertaining to minerals from various deposits from Europe and Anatolia taken from the literature. The provenance of the materials is very diverse. Some of the data are compatible with the data from the copper mineral deposits of the Valais region. Moreover, three copper lunulae were identified as possibly Tuscan, which suggests contacts between Italy and the Valais region. This pattern also establishes a multiplicity of provenances for the metal and cultural influences in the Alpine environment of the Rhone Valley of Switzerland at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]