Study of Archaeometallurgical Slag and Metal

Abstract

Ancient slag from non-ferrous metallurgy has mostly been divided into two groups based on technological grounds: smelting slags and crucible slags (melting/refining/ casting slags). Samples analyzed from the former have been mainly from sites dating into the (Late) Bronze Age, Iron Age or even later periods and were collected from large slag heaps, which indicated a mass production of metal. Crucible slags, on the other hand, were classified as waste products from the processing of non-ferrous metals e.g., by remelting or alloying. They acquired their name from the small crucibles in which these processes were carried out. Crucible slag has been analyzed, e.g., from Late Bronze Age tin-bronze casting workshops in Kition (Cyprus) (Zwicker et al. 1985), Nichoria (Cooke and Nielsen 1978), Isthmia (Rostoker et al. 1983), and Olympia and Athens of the classical period (Zwicker 1984).