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What role did really tin bronze play in the Argaric society?
Abstract
The transition from arsenic copper to tin-bronze in ancient metallurgy has long been attributed to the superior physical and mechanical properties of tin-bronze. However, recent archaeometallurgical studies have cast doubt on this theory, suggesting that the functional and productive advantages of tin-bronze over arsenical copper may not be as clear-cut as traditionally thought. In this paper we present the results of metallographic and microhardness tests conducted on the metallic assemblages from several Bronze Age Argaric sites (Southeast Iberia). Compositional analyses of more than 700 copper-based objects revealed a distinct correlation between the use of tin-bronze for ornaments and arsenical copper for functional objects. This fact suggests that the choice of tin-bronze was influenced by factors beyond mere productivity. The results presented in this paper show that both arsenic copper and tin-bronze could exhibit similar mechanical properties. According to them, their microhardness levels depend on the final processes of their manufacture and the intensity of these processes, rather than on the alloy's composition. This challenges the notion that bronze was adopted solely for its functional efficiency. Therefore, alternative interpretations must be considered to explain the adoption of this new alloy.
Material is the mother of innovation and it is through skill that innovations are brought about.
This core thesis that is developed in this book identifies skill as the linchpin of – and missing link between – studies on craft, creativity, innovation, and material culture. Through a detailed study of early bronze age axes the question is tackled of what it involves to be skilled, providing an evidence based argument about levels of skill.
The unique contribution of this work is that it lays out a theoretical framework and methodology through which an empirical analysis of skill is achievable. A specific chaîne opératoire for metal axes is used that compares not onlywhat techniques were used, but also how they were applied. A large corpus of axes is compared in terms of what skills and attention were given at the different stages of their production.
The ideas developed in this book are of interest to the emerging trend of ‘material thinking’ in the human and social sciences. At the same time, it looks towards and augments the development in craft-studies, recognising the many different aspects of craft in contemporary and past societies, and the particular relationship that craftspeople have with their material. Drawing together these two distinct fields of research will stimulate (re)thinking of how to integrate production with discussions of other aspects of object biographies, and how we link arguments about value to social models.
Embodied knowledge in metalworking
The sword found in a house at the Bronze Age settlement of Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, province of Jaén) is the only example from a domestic context in the El Argar culture. We analize the circumstances of the discovery, and discuss the results of the various analyses that have been performed. Finally, we compare the Peñalosa find to other contemporaneous swords from the Iberian Peninsula and discuss whether the role of Argaric weapons was symbolic or functional.Se estudia una espada singular de la cultura argárica tanto por su tipología, estado de conservación (hoja, piezas de la empuñadura) y metal (bronce y plata) como por proceder de un contexto doméstico del poblado de la Edad del Bronce de Peñalosa (Baños de la Encina, Jaén). Se analizan las circunstancias del hallazgo, presentándose para su discusión los resultados de los análisis FRX y ICP-SFMS realizados. Se compara con otras espadas contemporáneas aparecidas en la Península Ibérica y se debate el papel simbólico o funcional de las armas argáricas.
With its forts, swords, halberds and daggers the Argaric people of south-east Spain has long been seen as a warrior society. The authors dismantle this model, showing that defences around settlements and weapons and knives in tombs have quite different social roles. An analysis of skeletons showed that while these Bronze Age people might have been periodically clubbing each other on the head, they were not doing a lot of lethal stabbing.
To improve our understanding of prehistoric casting methods and materials, simulations for copper arsenic (As-Cu) alloys with up to 15 wt.% As were calculated. Cooling curves and the secondary dendritic arm spacings (SDAS) for the alloy were plotted and calculated, respectively, under non-steady-state conditions with a time-stepping procedure for prehistoric mold materials (e.g., quartz sand, sandstone, terracotta, and steatite).
The cooling and microstructure of the alloy was also simulated in iron molds for immediate comparison with as-cast microstructure. The microstructure and SDAS of the as-cast alloys were studied and measured in polished samples with a metallographic microscope. The purpose of this research was to improve our ability to retroactively evaluate the influence of mold materials on as-cast microstructures and determine their materials. This article focuses on As-Cu alloy microstructure and SDAS values, and also discusses the phenomenon of “inverse segregation” and its relation to cooling rate and As concentration.
The colors of copper alloys are of particular interest in archaeology and can be characterized quantitatively and systematically. The CIELAB color system can determine different color parameters such as a*, b*, and L* by means of a spectrophotometer that describes the surface color. Additional information such as C* and h values can be calculated from these parameters which allows one to build a set of color-composition diagrams that connects chromaticity and alloy composition. With such data it is possible to estimate the color of prehistoric metal artifacts with similar chemical composition. A better understanding of the association between metallurgical composition and color will aid the research of prehistoric metalwork because choices in production and use of metal were likely influenced by this particular quality of metal.
This thesis contains the results of a project designed
to investigate the development of copper alloy metallurgy
in Thailand from the earliest times down to the beginning
of the historical period. Excavated material was obtained
from a number of archaeological sites in Thailand, in particular
Non Nok Ta, Ban Don Ta Phet and Ban Na Di. Most of
this material is well provenanced and can be dated with
reasonable accuracy.
Chemical analysis of 276 artifacts was carried out using
Atomic Absorption or Induction Coupled Plasma spectroscopy,
with phase analysis being carried out using the electron
microprobe. In addition, a large proportion of the objects
(127) was sectioned and examined using the techniques of
optical metallography. From the information that was obtained,
it has been possible to build up a picture of the technology
of different classes of artifacts, the particular alloy used
for each, and regional and chronological variations.
In addition, a considerable amount has been learned of
the class of alloy known as β-tin bronzes, which appear to
have been used first in Thailand and to a limited extent in
other Asian countries up to the medieval period. Information
of fundamental interest regarding these alloys was obtained.
Chemical analysis of the stunning Muisca metalwork shows that the alloys of copper and gold were especially composed for each offering. Traditionally, the Muisca objects have been collected and studied as works of art. Our authors show that when it comes to drawing understanding of people from the objects they have left us, context is all. The results have much to reveal to metallurgists and students of symbolic metalwork everywhere.
An appendix to Refrew, C., Cycladic metallurgy and the Aegean Bronze Age, AJA, 71, No. 1, 1-20 (1967). Suggests that the higher arsenic content copper found extensively in the Early and MiddleBronze Age periods was an intentionally produced alloy. Establishes the effects of arsenic in producing copper castings most suitable for subsequent forging. With even up to 8% arsenic the alloys are readily worked, hot or cold, and give strengths and hardness equivalent to tin bronze. The presence of arsenic is particularly beneficial in maintaining the workability of copper which would otherwise contain copper oxide. It is considered that the gradual replacement of arsenical bronze by tin bronze as the main form of strengthened copper was due to the difficulties associated with the high volatibility of arsenic and its compounds, leading to uncertain metal composition and the risk of poisoning. See (6)-H4 -- 92. -- AATA
Recent archaeological investigations at Khao Sam Kaeo, on the Upper Thai-Malay Peninsula, have furnished evidence for a mid/late 1st millennium BCE cultural exchange network stretching from the Indian subcontinent to Taiwan. Typological, compositional and technological study of Khao Sam Kaeo's copper-base artefacts has identified three distinct copper-alloy metallurgical traditions, with reasonable analogies in South Asian, Vietnamese, and Western Han material culture. Furthermore, analyses of technical ceramic and slag suggest that Khao Sam Kaeo metalworkers may have been using a cassiterite cementation process to produce high-tin bronze ingots for export or onsite casting/forging. Not only would this industry constitute the earliest evidence for the exploitation of Peninsula tin resources, but we also offer a speculative argument for the source of Khao Sam Kaeo's copper-base production technology.
This article is dedicated to Ronald F. TylecoteArchaeologists and historians of metallurgy have attempted to explain the gradual abandonment of arsenic bronze in favor of tin bronze in the ancient Old world by making comparisons between the mechanical properties of the two bronzes. These comparisons purport to show the superiority of copper-tin alloys over alloys of copper and arsenic, despite an absence of data on the physical properties of the copper-arsenic system. The study reported here presents the results of mechanical tests carried out on experimental samples of both types of bronze over a broad range of alloy compositions. Hardness, tensile strength, and elongation determinations were made on cold worked and hot worked (forged) material. Whereas tin bronzes can be work hardened more extensively than arsenic bronzes, the far greater ductility of arsenic bronze makes it a desirable alloy for the manufacture of thin metal sheet. The widespread use of low-arsenic copper-arsenic alloys in the Americas, especially in the Andean culture area, is attributable in part to the tradition there of sheet metal production in the elaboration of three-dimensional forms.
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knowledge of the archaeological record of southern Spain has changed during the last four decades. Among the surprises are
the rapidity of agricultural adoption, the emergence of regional centres of aggregated population in enclosed/fortified settlements
of up to 400 hectares in the fourth and third millennia BC, the use of copper objects as instruments of production, rather
than as items with a purely symbolic or ‘prestige’ value, large-scale copper production in western Andalucía in the third
millennium BC (as opposed to the usual domestic production model), and the inference of societies based on relations of class.
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