Archaeometallurgy
Archaeometallurgy is the study of the past use and production of metals by humans. It is a sub-discipline of archaeology and archaeological science.
Uses
Archaeometallurgical study has many uses in both the
Methods
There are various methodological approaches to archaeometallurgical studies. The same methods used in analytical chemistry may be used to analyze artifacts. Chemical analysis methods may include the analysis of mass, density or chemical composition. Most methods are non-destructive in nature, such as X-ray spectroscopy, or micro-destructive (requiring removal of only a tiny portion of the sample). Non-destructive methods can be used on more artefacts than destructive ones, but because they operate at the surface of the metal, corrosion and other surface effects may interfere with the results. Options that include sampling include various forms of mass spectrometry and a variety of chemical tests.
Modern to ancient
One of the methods of archaeometallurgy is the study of modern metals and
Non-ferrous archaeometallurgy
The specific study of the
Ferrous archaeometallurgy
The specific study of the
History
After initial sporadic work, archaeometallurgy was more widely institutionalised in the 1960s and 70s, with research groups in Britain (
See also
- Ancient iron production
- Cupellation
- Liquation
- Roman metallurgy
- Metallurgy during the Copper Age in Europe
- Metallurgy in Pre-Columbian America
- History of ferrous metallurgy
- Native copper
- Tin sources and trade in ancient times
- Experimental Archaeometallurgy
- Nonferrous Archaeometallurgy in the Southern Levant
- Metallurgy#History
References
Further reading
- ISBN 0-901462-88-8
- S. Kalyanaraman (2011) "Indian Hieroglyphs", Sarasvati Research Center, Herndon, VA
- TH. Rehren and E. Pernicka (2008) "Coins, Artefacts and Isotopes- Archaeometallurgy and Archaeometry", UCL Institute of Archaeology.
- Bayley, Crossley, and Ponting (2008) "Metals and Metalworking", Historical Metallurgy Society Occasional Publication no. 6, ISBN 978-0-9560225-0-9.
- Killick, David, and Thomas Fenn (2012) "Archaeometallurgy: The Study of Preindustrial Mining and Metallurgy", Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 41:559-575, DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-092611-145719.
External links
- The Historical Metallurgy Society
- IAMS offered two courses in 2012:
- Prehistoric Metallurgy by Simon Timberlake and Fergus Milton at Butser Ancient Farm.
- Yale University Archaeometallurgy Laboratory