The systematic analysis or reanalysis of all reported occurrences of the early copper smelting in Northern Italy has been carried out by a joint Italian-French collaboration. Several ltalian Neolithic, Eneolithic, and Early Bronze Age sites are reported in the literature as having produced copper smelting slags, though only a handful of samples have been properly characterized to date. All slags available for analysis have been fully investigated by XRD, optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, and PIXE. The results indicate that: (I) the reported occurrences of Liguria and some of Tuscany are actually not related to copper smelting; (2) most slag occurrences from the Alps were actually produced during copper smelting from sulphide minerals, indicating diffuse extractive metallurgy during the 3rd millennium BC, (3) different sites show different degrees of reaction advancement and copper extraction efficiency, pointing to non-standard extraction processes and smelting conditions. The mineralogical, chemical, and textural results are discussed with reference to the other known European occurrences of Eneolithic copper smelting.
Petrographic and chemical investigation of the earliest copper smelting slags in Italy: towards a reconstruction of the beginning of copper metallurgy
ARTIOLI, GILBERTO;ANGELINI, IVANA;
2009
Abstract
The systematic analysis or reanalysis of all reported occurrences of the early copper smelting in Northern Italy has been carried out by a joint Italian-French collaboration. Several ltalian Neolithic, Eneolithic, and Early Bronze Age sites are reported in the literature as having produced copper smelting slags, though only a handful of samples have been properly characterized to date. All slags available for analysis have been fully investigated by XRD, optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, and PIXE. The results indicate that: (I) the reported occurrences of Liguria and some of Tuscany are actually not related to copper smelting; (2) most slag occurrences from the Alps were actually produced during copper smelting from sulphide minerals, indicating diffuse extractive metallurgy during the 3rd millennium BC, (3) different sites show different degrees of reaction advancement and copper extraction efficiency, pointing to non-standard extraction processes and smelting conditions. The mineralogical, chemical, and textural results are discussed with reference to the other known European occurrences of Eneolithic copper smelting.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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