Hoard with a miner’s pick from Krtely in South Bohemia

This article presents a hoard of 27 metal artefacts and fragments of one ceramic vessel from the South Bohemian site of Krtely, dated to the earlier phase of the Late Bronze Age (Br D – Ha A1). Two exceptional phenomena are associated with the hoard. The first is its placement in a burial mound, and the second is the presence of two fragments of a broken miner's pick, analogous to those found in the salt mines of Hallstatt. In addition to typological-chronological analyses, the article also includes elemental composition and use-wear analyses of the pick. Unique to this find is the reutilization of the pick as a chisel. The hoard also contained a fragment of a cast sword hilt with embedded fragments of other artefacts, examined by X-ray and tomographic analyses. The hoard from Krtely significantly contributes to the ongoing discussion on the role of Bronze Age metal hoards and their potential connections to ritualized behaviour and the spiritual world of that era.