Middle Bronze Age Arsenical Copper Alloys in Southern Portugal

Archaeometry ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1003-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Valério ◽  
A. M. M. Soares ◽  
M. F. Araújo ◽  
R. J. C. Silva ◽  
L. Baptista
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Alloys ◽  
Southern Portugal ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Arsenical Copper

Arsenical copper and bronze in Middle Bronze Age burial sites of southern Portugal: the first bronzes in Southwestern Iberia

2014 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 68-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Valério ◽  
António M. Monge Soares ◽  
Maria Fátima Araújo ◽  
Rui J.C. Silva ◽  
Eduardo Porfírio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Portugal ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Arsenical Copper

On the Chemical composition of prehistoric Greek copper-based artefacts from Crete

1998 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 91-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Mangou ◽  
Panayiotis V. Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Absorption Spectrometry ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Equal Frequency ◽  
Metallographic Examination ◽  
Chemical Content ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Arsenical Copper ◽  
The Bronze Age

110 copper-based objects from various sites on Crete, covering the whole of the Bronze Age, were analysed for their chemical content (12 elements) by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The results indicate that during the Early Bronze Age arsenical copper was mainly used while in the Middle Bronze Age copper, arsenical copper, and arsenical bronze were in use with about equal frequency. During the Late Bronze Age normal bronze was used when required. The copper technology in each era was the same at all of the sites examined. Metallographic examination of four triangular daggers of the Early Bronze Age showed that they had been cast. In the case of three Late Bronze Age hydriae, the component sheets had been hammered and annealed.

Northern Europe

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Production ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Copper Mining ◽  
South West ◽  
Copper Mines ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Arsenical Copper ◽  
The Bronze Age

Copper objects first circulated in Britain and Ireland around 2500 BC, thus beginning a short-lived Chalcolithic that ended with the rapid adoption of tin-bronze metallurgy after 2100 BC. Both islands have numerous sources of copper; however, these orebodies are not evenly distributed, nor were they all accessible to the prehistoric miner. This is part of the explanation why certain regions developed a strong tradition of copper mining that lasted well into the Bronze Age. Ireland has long been regarded as a significant producer of metal in the Bronze Age. This reflects the large quantities of Bronze Age metalwork found in a part of Europe with abundant sources of copper. The south-west region of Cork and Kerry was the main centre for early copper production. This began with mining at Ross Island in Killarney, where Beaker culture groups produced arsenical copper during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (c.2400–1900 BC). Farther south, there are seven copper mines now dated to the Early to Middle Bronze Age (c.1800–1400 BC) in the peninsulas of west Cork. These are known as Mount Gabriel-type mines, the name coming from the single largest concentration of such workings located on the eastern slopes of this mountain in the Mizen Peninsula (O’Brien 1994, 2003). The recent discovery of trench workings at Derrycarhoon continues the story of Bronze Age copper mining in that area to 1300–1100 BC, after which this activity seems to have ceased (O’Brien 2013). The study of these mines began during the late eighteenth/ early nineteenth centuries, when mineral prospecting led to the discovery of primitive workings at several locations in south-west Ireland. Described as ‘Dane’s Workings’ in the antiquarian literature, these mines were associated with the use of firesetting and stone hammers (see quotations from Griffith 1828 and Thomas 1850 (in O’Brien 2003) in Chapter 1). The first systematic research began in the 1930s with the discovery of the Mount Gabriel group by the geologist, Tom Duffy. These were subsequently mapped by another geologist, John Jackson, who brought these mines to wider attention when he obtained a Bronze Age date for charcoal taken from mine spoil on the mountain (Jackson 1968).

scholarly journals A Espada do Monte das Oliveiras (Serpa) - uma arma do Bronze Pleno do Sudoeste

2020 ◽  
pp. 1055-1064
Author(s):  
Rui M. G. Monge Soares ◽  
Pedro Valério ◽  
Mariana Nabais ◽  
António M. Monge Soares
Keyword(s):  
Elemental Composition ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Iberia ◽  
Spherical Caps ◽  
The Town ◽  
Natural Alloy ◽  
Arsenical Copper

In this paper, we present a detailed examination of a sword dating from the Southwestern Middle Bronze Age, which was found several years ago during farming activities near the town of Serpa, Portugal. The sword was apparently found out of an archaeological context. The finder of the sword, who kindly allowed us to study it, cleaned the artefact of its corrosion and kept it in good conditions. The sword is about 50 cm long and its handle show two rivets (another one is missing) which are kept housed in notches. The rivets’ heads are spherical caps covered with a golden leaf. The use of a p-EDXRF equipment allowed us to determine and quantify the elemental composition of the blade, as well as of the golden leaf covering the rivet heads. It was thus possible to establish that the blade was manufactured with arsenical copper, while the composition of the golden leaf refers to a natural alloy. Finally, the Monte das Oliveiras sword is compared with several other coeval examples of Southern Iberia weaponry. Its hilt design, namely the three peripheral notches, seems to be of an unique variant in swords, being relatively rare in similarly shaped weapons, such as daggers.

On the Chemical Composition of Prehistoric Greek copper-based artefacts from the Aegean region

1997 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Mangou ◽  
Panayiotis V. Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Pure Copper ◽  
Absorption Spectrometry ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Aegean Region ◽  
Chemical Content ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Metallurgy ◽  
Arsenical Copper ◽  
Of Greece

Thirty-nine copper-based objects from the Aegean region of Greece, covering the Late Neolithic, Early and Late Bronze Ages, but excluding the Middle Bronze Age, were analysed for their chemical content (twelve elements) by atomic absorption spectrometry. The results show that there was a gradual shift in copper metallurgy from pure copper (Late Neolithic), to arsenical copper (Early Bronze Age), to bronze (Late Bronze Age). The results tend to indicate that the same type of copper metallurgy existed throughout the Aegean in each period.

scholarly journals Study on the Middle Bronze Age Disc-Butted Axe Ornament from Archaeometallurgical Point of View

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 9814
Author(s):  
Ioan Gabriel Sandu ◽  
Viorica Vasilache ◽  
Ion Sandu ◽  
Felix Adrian Tencariu ◽  
Andrei Victor Sandu
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Alloys ◽  
Phase Variation ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Preservation Condition ◽  
The Social ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Surface Decoration

Our research was conducted on a copper disc-butted axe, with a surface decoration made of a tin-based alloy, which was found east of the Carpathian Mountains in the Moldavian Plateau. This unique piece is thought to belong to the Middle Bronze Age in the Western Carpathians—Wietenberg, Suciu de Sus and Otomani–Füzesabony cultures. In order to evaluate the application process and the origin of the ores used, the surface and volume phase variation of the concentration of the metal components of the basic alloy (copper) and of the ornament was analysed using optical microscopy (OM), stereomicroscopy (SM) and SEM-EDX. The archaeometric features, formed both during its use and during its lying in the archaeological site, were identified and later used in archaeometallurgical evaluations and in determining the preservation condition of the two components (axe and ornament) on the surface, interface and in stratigraphic section. Experimental data revealed that, after its casting in porous silicon stone moulds, the object was coated with a thin film by immersion in an easily fusible tin alloy, which included copper as the major alloying component and arsenic and iron as minor components. After finishing the shiny white coat, a beautiful decoration was applied by incision and engraving. Used as a battle axe, it also had a rank function, as it belonged to the community leaders. The data prove the ability of ancient craftsmen to design and process copper alloys to obtain authentic extremely beautiful artefacts, which provide new possibilities to reveal the social and symbolic function of certain ancient bronze objects.

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