Amber workshops in Central Europe in the Early Iron Age - Data Set

Data supplement (RAW data set samples measurements) for the article: Golec Mírová, Z. et al. (Golec Mírová, Z. – Golec, M. (CorrA) – Kučera, L. – Chytráček, M. – Hagemann, K. – Mischka, D. – Dienstpier, M. – Martínek, J. – Zemek, V. – Přichystal, M. – Čižmářová, H. – Čižmář, I. – Popelka, M. – Lečbych, M. – Fojtík, P. – Parma, D. – Sovová, K. – Zeman, J. – Tomešová, B. – Dufek, J. ‒ Novák, R. ‒ Valentová, J. – Hiltscher, T. – Krausse, D. – Hansen, L. – Hoppe, T. – Wendling, H. ‒ Koch-Waldner, T. – Trebsche, P. – Praprotnik, T. – Potrebica, H. ‒ Perkić, D. – Dizdar, M. ‒ Dmitrovič, K.: Amber workshops in Central Europe in the Early Iron Age. Technology, chemical analyses and amber roads. Journal of Archaeological Science. Abstract of the article: The authors trace the amber workshops of the Early Iron Age (800–370 BC), while the largest peak in the distribution of raw amber from the Baltic and North Sea in European history to modern times can be identified in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the authors use the monitoring of workshops in Central Europe and the Mediterranean. Newly acquired data significantly enriches our understanding. Typological observations reveal the operation chain. The technology of the production process is correlated with the knowledge of experimental archaeology. Modern approach of chemical analyses of the origin of amber provides new possibilities for researching the raw material amber across the European continent. The innovative division of Baltic amber into North Sea and Baltic Sea opened new paths of interpretation. The deductive approach of stibology for the reconstruction of long-distance amber routes is now combined with chemical analyses. The authors significantly transform the 100-year-old 1925 model of J. M. de Navarro´s construction of the transregional and transcontinental Amber Routes in Europe, on which authors relay until today. Provided data: The amber samples were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy. Samples of amber were adhered to a microscopic glass slide using double sided tape. Amber samples were analyzed using a DXR2 Raman microscope (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). The parameters were as follows: Laser wavelength: 785 nm, laser power 10 mW, expositions 2 s, number of expositions 40, aperture thickness 50 μm, microscope magnification 10×, each sample was measured three times. For statistical evaluation, the R program was used (R Core Team, 2021). The amber samples discussed in this article were analyzed non-destructively in order to preserve the samples for further (much more detailed) investigations. The main method used to determine the origin of the amber was Raman spectroscopy. In the 28 workshops, 1.912 samples were analyzed; each measured 5 times (i.e. 9.560 measurements).