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Multidisciplinary approaches to ancient tin research. 

Multidisciplinary approaches to ancient tin research. 

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Conference Paper
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The northwestern Iberian Peninsula has been well known for its mineral wealth since classical times, including for gold and for tin. In fact, the Iberian tin belt is the largest in western Europe (covering an area of c.200,000 km2), containing tin deposits that were accessible from ancient times. Nevertheless, few archaeological studies have been d...

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Context 1
... records on ancient tin mining, The Early Tin Iberian Group was formed in 2010 as a synergy between researchers from several institutions in Spain, Portugal and France, sharing an interest for tin in antiquity. Being an interdisciplinary group it aims to broaden the study of ancient tin in North West Iberia in a variety of directions ( Fig. 1), such as documentary research, archaeometallurgical analysis and fi eld survey to recognise ancient mining works and sample cassiterite, relying on the expertise of each researcher and institution. The group also integrates ethnological data to generate interpretative models and perform experiments with the aim of producing tin and ...
Context 2
... developed; nevertheless, the presence of tin slags has now been confi rmed. The results even show some similarities with the Centum Cellas examples (see above; Merideth 1996): the tin content varies considerably although is frequently upwards of ~30%, and the signifi cant percentages of the elements niobium, titanium and tantalum are also present (Fig. 10), which are common occurrences in cassiterite from the Iberian tin ...
Context 3
... resulting list was used to prepare a map (Fig. 11), which presents the recorded mining sites, distinguishing the ancient ones from the modern or undated ones. 7 The wide, spatial spread of tin mining works is notable, despite the empty zones that result from the limitations of geological surveys. Another point of interest is the known location of ancient works in many areas, despite ...
Context 4
... of tin. All the experiments were conducted in small-scale open fi re structures, as a small pit dug into the ground. Fluxes were never added, and in some cases clay crucibles were used, while in others the reduction was made directly at the bottom of the pit. Two bellows were always used, with the tuyeres directed to the centre of the pit (Fig. 12). Variations in the bellows design, size and depth of the pit were included in some of the ...

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