Excavations at the Chalcolithic site Fazael in the central Jordan Valley uncovered a large number of metal items, many of them polymetallic copper alloys cast in the lost wax technique. Metallography and SEM–EDS analysis on a subset of the assemblage confirm previous notions of the lost wax metallurgy in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant but extend them significantly in three aspects: The Fazael metal assemblage is slightly depleted in its arsenic content compared to metal assemblages from other sites, silt-sized quartz inclusions in unalloyed and polymetallic copper items, and the presence of unalloyed copper inclusions. These latter provide the earliest direct evidence for mixing of different metal types in West Asia, potentially alloying or recycling.

First evidence for alloying practices in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant (4500–3800 BCE) as revealed by metallography / Rose, Thomas; Natali, Stefano; Brotzu, Andrea; Bar, Shay; Goren, Yuval. - In: HERITAGE SCIENCE. - ISSN 2050-7445. - (2023). [10.1186/s40494-023-01030-2]

First evidence for alloying practices in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant (4500–3800 BCE) as revealed by metallography

Thomas Rose
Primo
;
Stefano Natali
Secondo
;
Andrea Brotzu;
2023

Abstract

Excavations at the Chalcolithic site Fazael in the central Jordan Valley uncovered a large number of metal items, many of them polymetallic copper alloys cast in the lost wax technique. Metallography and SEM–EDS analysis on a subset of the assemblage confirm previous notions of the lost wax metallurgy in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant but extend them significantly in three aspects: The Fazael metal assemblage is slightly depleted in its arsenic content compared to metal assemblages from other sites, silt-sized quartz inclusions in unalloyed and polymetallic copper items, and the presence of unalloyed copper inclusions. These latter provide the earliest direct evidence for mixing of different metal types in West Asia, potentially alloying or recycling.
2023
Polymetallic copper alloys, Lost wax casting, Unalloyed copper inclusions, SEM–EDS, Metallography, Fazael, Chalcolithic, Southern Levant, Mixing, Alloying
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
First evidence for alloying practices in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant (4500–3800 BCE) as revealed by metallography / Rose, Thomas; Natali, Stefano; Brotzu, Andrea; Bar, Shay; Goren, Yuval. - In: HERITAGE SCIENCE. - ISSN 2050-7445. - (2023). [10.1186/s40494-023-01030-2]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1690694
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