Archaeometallurgy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Magnetic survey data presented as filled contour maps with a non-linear scale reveals the characteristic dipolar signal from iron smelting furnaces. High resolution data, from 10cm spaced surveys, can be modelled mathematically to recover the angles of inclination and declination, which can be used to estimate the last date of firing of a furnace.
The techniques are illustrated with maps of 4 furnaces from prehistoric and medieval sites in north Wales and the results are compared to conventional archaeomagnetic determinations. The potential use of these techniques to any burnt features, such as hearths or small ovens, is discussed.

Iron-production sites of the early historic period in Mainland Southeast Asia (fifth to fif-teenth centuries AD) are rare. Recent excavations at the Tonle Bak site in central Cambodia now provide the first evidence for furnace technology, metallurgical characteristics of slag concentrations and evidence for the organisation of local smelting communities and ritual practices during the peak of the Angkorian Khmer Empire. The results demonstrate that the smelters were directly integrated with Angkorian state-exchange networks. They also raise questions about the use of ethnohistorical records for understanding the identity and organisation of these early metalworkers.

- by Stéphanie Leroy
- •
- Archaeology, Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy

The 18th century water-powered ironworks at Agoreggi, in the Basque country, was reconstructed based on contemporary historical records and archaeological investigations. In 1994-1999 three campaigns of experiments were carried out with the aim of reproducing the scale and technology of the iron production. This paper is a fully illustrated description of the experiments and, in particular, of the practical problems of the air delivery system and the use of the copper tobera (tuyere). In 1999 six agoas (blooms) were made of varying quality and size, the largest being a 30kg ferritic agoa smelted from 140kg of ore, but this is only about half the scale of the 18th century production.
It subsequently transpired that the mouth of the tobera used for the experiments should have been 170% larger, thus allowing more air to be blown into the furnace, and the making of agoas closer to the 18th century size. See Crew 2013, 'Twenty five years of bloomery experiments...', pages [46-48], for an overview of the experiments and a brief discussion of the tobera problem.

- by Vesa-Pekka Herva and +1
- •
- Neolithic Archaeology, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, History of Russian North, Metal Finds (Archaeology)

This paper describes our 17th experiment (XP17), which was the first occasion on which a reasonable bloom was made. The smelt was of 7.5kg of moderately rich bog iron ore, in a low shaft furnace, resulting in a low carbon bloom of 1600g. Half the bloom was refined to a billet (642g), then to a flat bar (350g), part of which was forged to a knife. If the whole bloom had been refined, the total losses would have been more than half the original weight, resulting in three smithing hearth slags from each stage of the process. The data is used to make a preliminary calculation of the production from the sites at Bryn y Castell and Crawcwellt, where considerable numbers of smithing hearth bottoms were found.

In 1987 to 1989 15 experiments were carried out, smelting bog-iron ores in a low shaft furnace. The data from XP13 to XP28 are presented, with quantifications of the smelting and of the refining to billets and bars. Analyses of the bog ores are given. Metallurgical analyses, micrographs and P maps of the blooms from XP22 and XP23 are given, and analyses of the billet from XP17 and the bar from XP16. Line traces for P, As, Co and Ni, across the XP16 bar show the segregation of the P and the surface enrichment of As and Ni.

- by Peter and Susan Crew
- •
- Experimental Archaeology, Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy, Paleometallurgy

This PPT was presented at the 2009 'World of Iron' conference. It is a comparative study of bloomery iron made from different ores, refined to bars and forged to knives, looking at the metallography and the slag inclusions. This conference presentation has a wider range of images than could be used in the 2013 published version. The second file has a descriptive text.

- by Peter and Susan Crew
- •
- Experimental Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Paleometallurgy, Ironworking

Jones, I., Williams, D., Wiliams, S., Carruthers, W., Madgwick, R. and Young, T. 2018. Early medieval enclosure at Glanfred, near Llandre, Ceredigion. Archaeologia Cambrensis 167: 221-243. Geophysical survey and small-scale trial... more

- by Richard Madgwick and +1
- •
- Geophysics, Archaeobotany, Early Medieval Archaeology, Welsh History

SUMMARY: Chapter 8, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers what typically survives, what constitutes an "artifact", interpreting usage, obtaining materials (e.g., quarrying; mining), transporting materials, installing materials, manufacturing items, identifying function, experimental archaeology, etc., regarding stone, bone, antler, shell, leather, wood, plant, metal, faience, glass, and other materials and diverse artifacts. In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED May 2023.

- by Gregory Mumford
- •
- Archaeology, Experimental Archaeology, Anthropology, Ethnoarchaeology

This paper aims at highlighting a methodological flaw in current biblical archaeology, which became apparent as a result of recent research in the Aravah's Iron Age copper production centers. In essence, this flaw, which cuts across all schools of biblical archaeology, is the prevailing, overly simplistic approach applied to the identification and interpretation of nomadic elements in biblical-era societies. These elements have typically been described as representing only one form of social organization, which is simple and almost negligible in historical reconstructions. However, the unique case of the Aravah demonstrates that the role of nomads in shaping the history of the southern Levant has been underestimated and downplayed in the research of the region, and that the total reliance on stone-built archaeological features in the identification of social complexity in the vast majority of recent studies has resulted in skewed historical reconstructions. Recognizing this "architectural bias" and understanding its sources have important implications on core issues in biblical archaeology today, as both "minimalists" and "maximalists" have been using stone-built architectural remains as the key to solving debated issues related to the geneses of Ancient Israel and neighboring polities (e.g., "high" vs. "low" Iron Age chronologies), in which-according to both biblical accounts and external sources-nomadic elements played a major role.

This paper discusses the Neolithic beginnings of metal-using and metal-working in the central Mediterranean region. In particular, a basic yet surprisingly long-standing question is addressed: when did metallurgy appear in this region? In the middle Neolithic, as Lawrence Barfield controversially proposed, or in the late Neolithic, as most scholars seem now keen to believe? And if the latter proves true, when exactly can we date its inception considering that the Italian late Neolithic lasted for about 700 years? The first section of the paper will examine whether some of the most archaic copper axes from this region can be dated to the middle Neolithic (c.5000-4500 cal. BC). The second section will discuss whether large copper implements including axes circulated south of the Alps in the late/final Neolithic (c.4500-3600 cal. BC), and if these were made locally or were all imported from neighbouring regions where extractive technology was already practised in this time period. The final section will briefly present Copper Age developments of the metallurgical practices established in Neolithic along with concluding remarks concerning the social and technological transformation, which occurred in the Central Mediterranean region in the 4th millennium BC.

The article’s aim is to foster an interdisciplinary debate regarding the direction that archaeometallurgical studies in the central Mediterranean region, from the late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (c4500-1650 BC), ought to take in the next decade. It is argued that early metallurgical studies in the area have followed an idiosyncratic course due to the sway held on the discipline by Idealism, an influential philosophical movement that greatly hindered the development of science-based archaeology until the late 20th century. The last fifteen years, however, have witnessed an unprecedented if rather tumultuous expansion of metallurgical research, and important advances have been made in the chronology and chaîne opératoire of early metal technology and artefacts. Yet it is the author’s contention that, in order to reap full benefits from the recent disciplinary growth, an explicit research agenda must be set. Above all, it is argued that the new agenda must be grounded in the cross-disciplinary examination of the materiality of metalwork, hitherto poorly explored in this region.

Metalwork wear-analysis has now been practised for over two decades. In this paper the authors present the achievements of the discipline and critically assess the methodologies currently applied by practitioners. Whilst the achievements and contributions of the discipline to the wider study of archaeology, and to European prehistory in particular, are numerous, it is argued that an increase in scientific rigour
and a focus on addressing limitations and open problems is required if metalwork wear-analysis is to flourish as a scientific field of research. Experimentation with higher magnifications and novel microscopic techniques is encouraged, alongside more standardised and explicit analytical protocols for
analysis. More details and targeted descriptions of analytical protocols for experimental work are required: experiments must be designed to answer specific questions and address lacunas in knowledge. While at present the majority of practitioners focus their analyses on copper alloys from European prehistory, and most specifically from the Bronze Age, the authors suggest that a far wider range of materials are suitable for analysis including copper alloys from the Americas and iron alloys from historic and ethnographic collections. Expanding the range of materials studied would open the field up and give it far wider relevance to archaeology and material culture studies. Finally, it is argued that the discipline will advance more quickly if practitioners share their reference collections and databases of experimental marks digitally. The authors suggest that the creation of digital reference collections, open to all, would provide metalwork analysts with the opportunity to lead related fields of research such as lithic
microwear and residue analysis, where individual reference collections are the norm and cross-comparability of analysis is therefore hindered.

- by Rachel Crellin and +1
- •
- Metalwork (Archaeology), Use Wear Analysis, Archaeometallurgy, Prehistoric Metallurgy

A diachronic view of the metallurgy in the Portuguese territory during the first three millennia after its appearance in the Iberian Peninsula is presented based on the current state of the art. Results of micro-energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (micro-EDXRF) analyses made on metal artefacts to determine their composition and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis (SEM-EDS) analyses to study microstructural features as inclusions are shown to illustrate trends and specificities of each chronological period. Generally, in early periods, namely during the Copper Age and first stages of the Bronze Age, unalloyed copper and arsenical copper were at use, and only by the Late Bronze Age (LBA) did tin bronze substitute almost completely the previous role of copper. In the Early Iron Age, during the Orientalising period, a general decrease in the average tin content in bronzes seems to happen. Regarding the inclusions observed in the metal matrix, these seem to suffer a diversification with the appearance of tin bronzes. By the Copper Age, only Cu-O and Cu-As-O inclusions are observed, while by the LBA Cu-S inclusions become regular, besides others less frequent, as Sn-O, Cu-S-Fe and Pb globules. Overall, with the present analytical study, the complementary character of micro-EDXRF and SEM-EDS in the study of ancient metals is demonstrated, providing a first general overview of the ancient metallurgy at the Portuguese territory which is of key importance to specific investigations of the future.

- by fatima araujo
- •
- Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy, Mathematical Sciences, Physical sciences
- by alicia perea
- •
- Archaeology, Technology, Historiography, Culture

Die Entdeckung einer fast lebensgrossen Bronzehand und eines Dolches im Oktober 2017 bei Prêles (Plateau de Diesse) im Berner Jura überraschte die Fachwelt und löste ein grosses Medienecho aus. Die Nachgrabung vor Ort und die Untersuchungen an der Bronzehand durch den Archäologischen Dienst des Kantons Bern führten zu weiteren Erkenntnissen. Die Publikation versammelt die Beiträge des Kolloquiums vom 30. Oktober 2019 und ergänzt sie mit weiteren Texten zum Kontext dieses bedeutenden Fundes.

- by Andrea Schaer
- •
- Art, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Archaeometallurgy, Bronze Age

Description of the metallurgical remains of the site of Le Landeron, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Medieval smithing workshop and slags. Extract from : Hofmann Rognon, P. : Le Landeron-Les Carougets, vestiges protohistorique, villa romaine,... more

Description of the metallurgical remains of the site of Le Landeron, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Medieval smithing workshop and slags.
Extract from : Hofmann Rognon, P. : Le Landeron-Les Carougets, vestiges protohistorique, villa romaine, tombes et habitat médiévaux.

- by Serneels Vincent
- •
- Archaeometallurgy, Iron Smithing, Ancient Iron Metallurgy

Full excavation of this small hillfort produced remarkable evidence for ironworking, both smelting and refining, in the late Iron Age, with a second phase of activity in the 2nd/3rd century AD. At the time the 1200kg of slag was the largest quantity recovered from any early site in Britain. The chronology is based on radio-carbon dates and a suite of archaeomagnetic determinations

The Terracotta Army that protected the tomb of the Chinese emperor Qin Shihuang offers an evocative image of the power and organisation of the Qin armies who unified China through conquest in the third century BC. It also provides evidence for the craft production and administrative control that underpinned the Qin state. Bronze trigger mechanisms are all that remain of crossbows that once equipped certain kinds of warrior in the Terracotta Army. A metrical and spatial analysis of these triggers reveals that they were produced in batches and that these separate batches were thereafter possibly stored in an arsenal, but eventually were transported to the mausoleum to equip groups of terracotta crossbowmen in individual sectors of Pit 1. The trigger evidence for large-scale and highly organised production parallels that also documented for the manufacture of the bronze-tipped arrows and proposed for the terracotta figures themselves.

- by Xiuzhen Li
- •
- Archaeology, Spatial Analysis, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Chinese archaeology

After several decades of archaeologists interpreting Thailand's metal age development using top-down approaches drawn from 1980s archaeological theory, it has become evident they do not work for this region. When the metal assemblages from Ban Chiang and related sites in northeast Thailand were studied with a systematic methodology, alternative perspectives emerged for how to better interpret the resilient, peaceful prehistoric societies dating from approximately 2100 BCE-300 CE. A testable model is proposed applying "Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage" that focuses on "regional exchange systems." Exchange networks existed in the middle Mekong and Chao Phraya basins from the pre-metal period through the metal age and underpinned heterarchical political and economic systems whereby goods and valuables were exchanged among decentralized networks of communities.

A detailed understanding of bronze production remains absent in most archaeological contexts, despite the fundamental importance of this alloy. Here, we present a comprehensive discussion of the bronze production remains from Late Phrygian/Achaemenid Gordion: crucibles, moulds and casting waste and their find contexts. A detailed microscopic analysis of crucibles is complemented by chemical characterisation of their main materials (ceramic and slag) in order to discuss the technical performance of the crucibles and to evaluate the materials used for the metallurgical process. Given the lack of contemporary parallels, repeated reference is made to the Egyptian crucibles from Pi-Ramesse, for which similarly detailed descriptions are available. The crucible analyses are then connected to the other production remains to obtain a more holistic understanding of the metallurgical process. Finally, these technical observations are interpreted in their particular archaeological context at Gordion and discussed from a wider perspective. The results presented here offer the first detailed overview of bronze production for ancient Phrygia, as well as the wider region. Through the inclusion of extensive online supplementary data, this paper offers a detailed technical overview of ancient (bronze) crucible analysis, of which very few examples are currently available in the wider literature.

- by Frederik Rademakers and +2
- •
- Anatolian Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Bronze and Iron Ages in Eastern Mediterranean (Archaeology)

The gold deposits of Verespatak belong to the famous 'Golden Quadrangle' (Romania). They have probably been exploited since ancient times. In order to obtain more detailed compositional information, native gold samples were analysed by WDS and NAA. The results show that the gold from Verespatak has typically very high silver contents in the order of 20-25% and also contains tellurium and other trace elements in the matrix and bound to mineral inclusions. Melting experiments under oxidizing and reducing conditions showed that copper and tellurium contained in the gold were hardly affected. Thus copper contents of up to 0.4% and tellurium contents of up to 0.2% can occur in this gold type. Such high tellurium contents have so far not been found in prehistoric gold objects from the region.

- by Thilo Rehren
- •
- Archaeometallurgy, Gold Mineralization

Raně středověký meč, který je uložen ve sbírkách Středočeského muzea v Roztokách u Prahy, je spojován s hradištěm na Levém Hradci, byť jeho nálezové okolnosti nejsou známy. Zbraň má jílec Petersenova typu Y, a již předchozí rentgenový průzkum prokázal damaskovaní čepele a přítomnost tzv. železné tauzie. Nově provedený rtg. tomografický průzkum umožnil bližší specifikaci plošného damasku a především tauzie; odhalil, že čepel nese damaskovaný nápis „(ABO)FECIT“ na jedné straně, a složený geometrický znak na straně druhé. Všechny nově získané informace jsou v článku podrobně popsány a diskutovány.

- by Jiří Hošek
- •
- Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Early Medieval Swords, Swords

We would call the attention of students of the history of chemistry to these early 16th century attempts at analytical chemistry; for in them lie the foundations of that science. (Hoover and Hoover 1912, 220)
This paper tries to do that, with a study of some (random...) crucible fragments and their contents. For the much further developed variant of this, see the later papers by Marcos Martinon-Torres (see https://ucl.academia.edu/MarcosMartinonTorres )

- by Thilo Rehren
- •
- Alchemy, Archaeometallurgy

В работе представлены результаты обследования Аслаевского медного рудника (граница Челябинской области и Башкортостана). Особенности выработки, материалы шурфовки отвала рудника, исторические свидетельства указывают на функционирование объекта в Новое время, в период XVIII-XIX вв. С поверхности отвала рудника происходит коллекция каменных орудий горного дела. Характеристики орудий с Аслаевского рудника находят удивительное сходство с орудиями горного дела бронзового века. Последнее может свидетельствовать о неизменности некоторых элементов технологии разработки медных рудников на протяжении тысячелетий и о возможной экстраполяции некоторых данных Нового времени к интерпретации материалов бронзового века.

- by Polina Ankusheva and +1
- •
- Late Bronze Age archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Археология Урала

Unlike art historians, archaeologists rarely make systematic attempts at attributing artefacts to individual artisans – they stop at the broader category of ‘provenance regions’ or ‘technical styles’. The identification of archaeological individuals, however, allows detailed insight into the organisation of workshops, knowledge transmission, skill, and the tension between individual and social agency. This paper reviews the potential of archaeological science methods to identify individual artisans through the study of material culture. Focusing on the Muisca votive goldwork of Colombia, it combines stylistic, chemical and microscopic analyses to identify idiosyncratic motor habits, material selections and artistic preferences that allow the identification of individual makers and manufacturing events. The results are informative of the internal dynamics between the Muisca technological tradition, religious behaviour and craft specialists. We conclude by outlining the potentials and challenges of science-based archaeological connoisseurship in other contexts.

- by Uribe Villegas María Alicia and +1
- •
- Archaeology, Art History, Colombia, Archaeological Science

The first industrial revolution in the southern Levant crystallized during the Iron Age when copper production reached scales never before seen in this part of the Middle East. Ever since copper ore was first smelted during the Chalcolithic period, the Arabah valley, and its widespread distribution of copper mineralization, was the main source for copper ore in the region. The main ore deposits are located in Timna (Israel) in the southern part of the valley, and some 105 km to the north, in the Faynan region (Jordan). Faynan is the largest copper ore resource zone in the southern Levant. Excavations at the Iron Age Faynan site of Khirbat en-Nahas and the recent final publication of that project have revealed peaks in industrial-scale production during the 10 th and 9 th centuries BCE. However, the role of ground stone tools in the Iron Age copper industry in Faynan has not been systematically presented. This paper presents a preliminary study of the ground stone assemblage from one excavation season at Khirbat en-Nahas, thereby highlighting the great potential for ground stone tools research at the site. Using the chaîne opératoire method of technological study, this paper takes a quantitative approach to the typological, material, and spatial distribution of ground stone artefacts at Khirbat en-Nahas to understand their role in copper production. Ethnoarchaeological study of hereditary bronze casting workshops in southern India provides a compelling model of how ground stone tools played a critical role in one of the most important dimensions of metal production in all periods-recycling-in an Iron Age copper factory.

- by Thomas E Levy and +2
- •
- Archaeometallurgy, Iron Age
- by S. Terry Childs
- •
- Anthropology of Technology, Archaeometallurgy, African Metallurgy
- by Moritz Jansen and +1
- •
- Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy, Archaeometallurgy, Mineralogy, Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy of Copper

The article presents the results of archaeometallurgical studies performed on a so-called copper axe recovered from the vicinity of a former village of Antoniny, Chodzież district (Great Poland).The relics of an intensive settlement activity taken by the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) groups were recognized around the discovery place. By means of the typological analysis it was found that the so-called axe from Antoniny is a defragmented part of a Jászladány B3 type axe-adze. Its chronology can be arbitrarily placed between the late 5th and 2nd half of 4th millennium BC. The axe-adze from Antoniny is another aquatic metal finding (deposited probably also with a dagger) related to the Funnel Beaker culture. The axe-adze was described in terms of its raw material profile (EDXRF) and micro- and macrostructure (OM). With established both contextual and raw material profiles, the provenance and chronology of the deposition act of the axe-adze from Antoniny were also discussed

- by Łukasz Kowalski and +2
- •
- Prehistoric Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy

Danebury is one of the more extensively excavated hillforts in Britain and the nearly 500 iron objects found are one of the largest assemblages from a single Iron Age site in Britain. Both currency bars and pieces of bulk iron, in the form of billets, were imported to the site. Fragments of cut currency bars show that they were being worked at Danebury. The possible sources of the different types of iron, and the objects made from them, are discussed in detail.

- by Myrto Georgakopoulou and +1
- •
- Cypriot Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy

This paper examines the evidence for ironworking in the town of Kilkenny during the late medieval period. It takes into account both the written and archaeological sources for ironworking and is based on recently completed doctoral research into iron production in Ireland in the period from c. AD 1200 to 1600 (Rondelez 2014a). Other aspects, such as the ethnicity of the smiths, the fuel used for ironworking and the iron trade, are also discussed. inTRODucTiOn From steel blades for cutting timber, stone, textile and food to weapons for waging warfare, from humble nails to horseshoes, anchors and chains, iron played a vital part in late medieval life. As such, the blacksmith's forge, where the manufacturing and repair of these objects took place, played a central role in the medieval economy. Kilkenny is exceptional because its main forge, which for at least a century, and possibly more, had a monopoly on ironworking inside the town, is well documented, both through archival sources and excavations. The same sources suggest the introduction of coal in Kilkenny around 1400 and give insights into the connections between smithing technology and ethnicity.

- by Paul Rondelez
- •
- Medieval History, Medieval urban history, Medieval Archaeology, Irish History

La zona de Cataluña meridional, y en especial el Priorato, cuenta con algunos datos sobre minería prehistórica y restos metalúrgicos que permiten desarrollar un trabajo de investigación comparativo con otras zonas peninsulares y del occidente de Europa. Aunque ya se realizaron unos primeros análisis de caracterización elemental a algunos materiales de la colección Vilaseca del Museo de Reus dentro del Proyecto de Arqueometalugia de la Península Ibérica (Rovira et alii, 1997 y Martin et alii, 1999) actualmente se esta trabajando en completar la información sobre la potencialidad de su explotación durante la Prehistoria.

- by Carlos Odriozola and +4
- •
- Mediterranean prehistory, Metallurgy, Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Archaeometry

In Eldagsen, Stadt Springe, wurden im Sommer
2013 Erdarbeiten fUr die grof)flachige
Umgestaltung des Markt- und Kirchplatzes
St. Alexandri vorgenommen. Dabei wurden
archaologische Ausgrabungen durchgefuhrt.
Neben knapp 60 Bau- und Siedlungsstrukturen
wurden 356 regelmaf)ig West-Ost-ausgerichtete
Bestattungen des um 1826 geschlossenen
Friedhofs untersucht, die in bis zu funf Lagen
ubereinander angelegt waren. Nur in wenigen
Fallen fanden sich in den Grabfullungen Reste
von Totenkronen, ein bronzener Fingerring oder
eine Schnalle. Zudem wurde eine grMere Anzahl
von metallenen Kleinfunden entdeckt, darunter
Ringe, Gurtel- und Schuhschnallen, Munzen
sowie Fragmente von Buchschlief)en. Hervorzuheben
sind zwei Kreuzemailscheibenfibeln des
9. /10. Jahrhunderts, die auf die fruhe Nutzung
des Friedhofes hinweisen. Zur Ermittlung der Materialherkunft wurder
beim Goldring mittels Laserablation-Massenspe -
trometrie (fs-LA-ICP-MCMS) die Bleiisotopenverhaltnisse
bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, das.
die Goldlegierung aufgrund ihrer Zusammense:zung
dem Rheinischen Schiefergebirge, genaue·
der Region um Koln, zugeordnet werden kann E.
ist sehr wahrscheinlich, dass der Ring dort auchergestellt
worden ist.

- by Dr. Robert Lehmann
- •
- Medieval Church History, Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy

Die Tang-Dynastie (618-907) – auch das goldene Zeitalter Chinas genannt – war eine blühende Epoche voller faszinierender Kulturphänomene. Das Zentrum des kosmopolitisch ausgerichteten Kaiserreichs bildete die vom heutigen Xi’an überlagerte Millionenstadt Chang’an – eine der größten Metropolen ihrer Zeit. Als Protagonisten des höfischen Lebens prägten Adelige das Stadtbild, deren luxuriöser Lebensstil sich auch in den pompös ausgestatteten Grabanlagen widerspiegelt. Diese findet man heute meist beraubt vor. Nur die herrlichen Wandmalereien und die zahlreichen, von den Grabräubern unbeachteten Tonfiguren konnten bisher eine vage Vorstellung vom ursprünglichen Umfang der Grabbeigaben und der ehemaligen Pracht der unterirdischen Kammern vermitteln. Im Jahr 2001 wurde in Xi’an das unversehrte Grab der 736 verstorbenen Li Chui ausgegraben, einer Urenkelin des Kaisers Gaozu. Sechs Jahre dauerte die Restaurierung des umfangreichen Grabinventars durch ein deutsch-chinesisches Team. Erstmalig gelang es, das opulente Schmuckensemble einer Tang-zeitlichen Dame zu rekonstruieren. Mit den Ergebnissen der wissenschaftlichen Auswertung durch ein Team von Spezialisten unterschiedlicher Disziplinen bieten sich neue Erkenntnisse zur damaligen Bestattungskultur. Diese werden hier erstmals einem breiten Publikum vorgestellt. Reich bebilderte Exkurse zu Themen wie z.B. Weinkultur, Daoismus oder Alchemie gewähren darüber hinaus einen Einblick in den Tang-zeitlichen Alltag.

- by Alexandra Hilgner
- •
- History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Historical Anthropology
- by Michele Degli Esposti and +1
- •
- Archaeometry, Archaeometallurgy, Arabian/Persian Gulf Archaeology, Iron Age South East Arabia and Oman

Copper alloys from an early-historic period site Kausambi, Uttar Pradesh, India were studied to understand the manufacturing technology and alloying practices through elemental analysis and microstructural examination. Most of the analysed samples were tin bronzes, and microstructure examination demonstrated casting, forging and annealing procedures adopted in manufacturing. Arsenic was absent in most of the samples, which may be due to recycling of the metal and awareness regarding the health hazards of this element among artisans. It is suggested that arsenic was not intentionally mixed in archaeological copper. On the other hand, tin was added in different quantities to meet the desired physical properties of the end-products. It is reported that copper metallurgy was developed in due course of time as a specialized craft in the Central Gangetic Valley, India and artisans of this region had mastered the copper-alloy technology since the early historic period.

- by Siddharth Shankar Rai
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- Archaeometallurgy, Indian subcontinent, Copper Alloys

The relation between currency management and mint towns is closely related. One of the most interesting features of the Bengal Sultanate is the presence of various mint towns within its boundaries in time and space. Recent research has mentioned about 40 mint names inscribed on the sultanate coins of Bengal (M.R. Karim 2013: 322). More recently a researcher has listed 47 mint names on coins of the Bengal Sultanate (S.M.I. Alam 2015). Finding such a large number of mint names does not necessarily mean this number of mints actually existed. Bengal was not geographically large enough to justify such a large number of mint towns. The actual number has been estimated to be between 16 (Jahan 1953: 225) and 26 mints (Shahnawaz 1999: 37). In the sultanate period of Bengal, the day-today local need for silver or gold coins was very limited. Local people were comfortable with cowries to purchase their daily commodities (M. Alam 2014: 70). Silver or gold coins were used only for large transactions, internal and external trade, and for religious offering purposes. Although the demand for metal coins by the general inhabitants of Bengal during the sultanate period was limited, the volume of coins of that period, especially silver coins, found till today is immense. Hundreds and thousands of silver coins of the Bengal sultans are preserved in various museums around the world and in private collections, and still more continue to be unearthed from various locations in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Assam, and the Tripura region. The existence of various mint towns within Bengal appears to indicate the decentralised monetary policies of the Bengal sultans. In order to gain a clearer view of this, it is necessary to study the metallic composition of the coins issued by a single mint, from its first appearance to its last known issue. Without studying the coins of a mint thoroughly, it will not be possible to explore the metallic and technological characteristics of that mint. A thorough archaeo-metallurgical analysis of the coins of a mint that is geographically identified can also create an opportunity to judge the interrelations of metal flow, trade and political relations between the mint towns within the sultanate and with other kingdoms. An attempt has been made here to analyse the silver coins of Sunargaon mint as part of a series of metallurgical analyses of the silver coins of all the mints of the Bengal Sultanate. Silver coins were selected from their first appearance to the end of their production (on the basis of availability and date). In total, 22 coins of Sunargaon mint from a private collection have been analysed by WDXRF. On the basis of the silver percentages of the coins of each year, an attempt has been made to relate the reason for such percentages with contemporary political history, to find out possible sources of silver of that period, and also to make observations on the other elements found in our metallurgical analysis.

- by Mohammad Abu Al Hasan
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- Archaeology, Metallurgy, Numismatics, Political History

A Roman copper ingot recovered from a wreck
located in the border region of the provinces of
Málaga and Cádiz is presented in the following
contribution. With a diameter of 45 to 53 cm and a
weight of 75.4 kg it is one of the heavier specimens.
Presumably the abbreviation of a name and the
indication of its weight were incised near the rim
of the bottom. Lead isotope and trace element
analysis suggest a provenance not from mines in
southern Hispania, but from the polymetallic ores
of the Catalunya region in northeastern Spain.

- by Peter Rothenhoefer
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- Latin Epigraphy, Archaeometallurgy, Ancient economy, Ancient Metallurgy

El yacimiento fenicio de La Fonteta (Guardamar del Segura, Alicante), gracias sobre todo al descubrimiento de numerosos vertederos metalúrgicos, ha proporcionado abundantes materiales relacionados con la producción de hierro, cobre, cobre/plomo y bronces binarios y ternarios, y probablemente también con la obtención de plomo y de plata. Entre estos restos arqueometalúrgicos hay que destacar por cantidad y variedad un significativo conjunto de toberas, constituido por más de 400 fragmentos. Las piezas documentadas hasta ahora se enmarcan en un arco cronológico que va desde los comienzos del siglo VIII a.C. hasta finales del siglo VII a.C.

- by Martina Renzi
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- Archaeology, Phoenicians, Archaeometallurgy, Ancient Metallurgy
- by Ümit Güder and +2
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- Medieval Archaeology, Archaeometallurgy

Iron smelting site survey near Toumodi and Khorogo (Ivory Coast) - 1st report

- by Serneels Vincent and +1
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- Archaeometallurgy, African Archaeology, Ancient Iron Metallurgy