Iron, copper and tin at Baratti, Populonia: smelting processes and metal provenances
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Published
Jan 1, 2022
Abstract
If the role of Populonia-Baratti as one of the most important ironworking centres of Europe in the 1st millennium BC is well documented, information about non-ferrous metal production in the area is still very scanty. We therefore started a detailed research program on four main excavation sites in the Populonia-Baratti industrial zone (Poggio della Porcareccia, Casone, Campo VI and the Baratti beach deposit) with the aim of establishing the types and extent of metallurgical activities for non-ferrous metals (mainly copper and tin), as well as on the provenance of smelted ores in the Etruscan period (c7th-3rd century BC). From analysis of stratigraphic relationships, morphological, mineralogical, textural, and chemical features of metallurgical materials we obtained the following main results:
- although remaining archeometallurgical evidence at Baratti-Populonia can largely be ascribed to iron production, the existence of an earlier (and partly coeval) copper metallurgy is also well documented, particularly in the Baratti beach deposit
- two different types of copper slags, which could be related to different metallurgical steps, have been distinguished
- the mineralogical and compositional features of slags from the sites investigated could provide indirect evidence of local bronze production (in agreement with archaeological data), by employment of tin-rich ores
- analysis indicates that iron ores came was mainly from Elba and, to a lesser extent, from the Campiglia Marittima district, whereas copper and tin are mostly derived from the latter area
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References
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Benvenuti M, Cianferoni C, Ducci S, Garuglieri A, Mascaro I, Morelli I, and Tanelli G 1996, ‘A reconnaissance study of ancient iron slags from Tuscan metalworking sites: preliminary report
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Chiarantini L 2000, Le scorie della metallurgia etrusco-romana della falesia di Baratti. Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
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Cucini Tizzoni C 1999, ‘Ponte di Val Gabbia III: la forgia e i bassofuochi fra Tardoantico e alto Medioevo’, in Cucini Tizzoni C and Tizzoni M (eds), La Miniera perduta. Cinque anni di ricerche archeometallurgiche nel territorio di Biennio, (Bienno, BS), 93-140.
D’Achiardi G 1929, ‘L’industria metallurgica a Populonia’, Studi Etruschi 3, 397-404.
Dompè L 1921, ‘Antichi depositi di scorie ferrifere presso i ruderi della città etrusca di Populonia’, La Miniera Italiana 5, 295-6.
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Fossa-Mancini E 1922, ‘L’arte mineraria e metallurgica al tempo degli Etruschi: ciò che hanno rivelato gli scavi di Populonia’, La Miniera Italiana 6 (Roma), 225-31.
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Rescic S 1998, Studio archeometrico delle scorie e dei resti di carica mineraria provenienti dalla necropoli del Casone (Populonia). Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
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Sperl G 1980, Über die Typologie urzeitlicher, frühgeschichtlicher und mittelalterlicher Eisenhüttenschlacken (Wien).
Strillozzi B 1998, Studio di scorie ferrifere etrusche della zona di Baratti-Populonia. Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
Tanelli G 1985, ‘I depositi metalliferi dell’Etruria e le attività estrattive degli Etruschi’, in G. Bretschneider (ed), Atti II Congresso Internazionale Etrusco, 3 (Roma), 1-14.
Tanelli G, Morelli F and Benvenuti M 1993, ‘I minerali del Campigliese: beni ambientali, culturali e industriali’, Boll Soc Geol It 112, 715-28.
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe (London).
Venerandi-Pirri I and Zuffardi P 1981, ‘The tin deposit of Monte Valerio (Tuscany): new factual observations for a genetic discussion’, Rendiconti Società Italiana Mineralogia e Petrologia
37(1), 525-39.
Voss O 1988, ‘The Iron Production in Populonia’, in PACT, The First Iron in the Mediterranean (Strasbourg), 91-100.
Bachmann H-G 1980, ‘Early copper smelting techniques in Sinai and in Negev as deduced from slag investigation’, in PT Craddock (ed), Scientific Studies in Early Mining and Extractive
Metallurgy (London: British Museum Occasional Paper 20), 103-34.
Benvenuti M 1996, ‘I giacimenti a ferro dell’Isola d’Elba’, in G Tanelli (ed), I fiori della Terra Ia Ed (Rio nell’Elba), 29-48.
Benvenuti M, Cianferoni C, Ducci S, Garuglieri A, Mascaro I, Morelli I, and Tanelli G 1996, ‘A reconnaissance study of ancient iron slags from Tuscan metalworking sites: preliminary report
on etrusco-roman to medieval sites from Elba Island and Chianti region’, in C Arias, A. Bietti, L Castelletti and C Peretto (eds), Proceedings of the XIII U.I.S.S.P International Congress (Forlì), 223-30.
Benvenuti M, Pecchioni E, Mascaro I, Mariani A, Settesoldi R, Sorice P, Romualdi A and Tanelli G 1999, ‘Iron smelting furnaces from the Etruscan metalworking centre of Baratti, Populonia: a mineralogical and petrographical study’, in A Guarino and A Ferrari (eds), Proceedings of the 2nd International Congress on ‘Science et technologie pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel dans le bassin Méditerranéen’ (Paris), 51-2.
Chiarantini L 2000, Le scorie della metallurgia etrusco-romana della falesia di Baratti. Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
Corretti A and Benvenuti M in press, ‘The beginning of iron metallurgy in Tuscany; with special reference to Etruria Mineraria’, in E Huysecom and V Seernels (eds), Proceedings of the International Congress on ‘Afrique et le bassin méditerranéen: aux origines de la métallurgie du fer’ (Geneve).
Crew P 1991, ‘The iron and copper slags at Baratti, Populonia, Italy’, Historical Metallurgy 25(2), 109-15.
Cucini Tizzoni C 1999, ‘Ponte di Val Gabbia III: la forgia e i bassofuochi fra Tardoantico e alto Medioevo’, in Cucini Tizzoni C and Tizzoni M (eds), La Miniera perduta. Cinque anni di ricerche archeometallurgiche nel territorio di Biennio, (Bienno, BS), 93-140.
D’Achiardi G 1929, ‘L’industria metallurgica a Populonia’, Studi Etruschi 3, 397-404.
Dompè L 1921, ‘Antichi depositi di scorie ferrifere presso i ruderi della città etrusca di Populonia’, La Miniera Italiana 5, 295-6.
Fedeli F, Galimberti A and Romualdi A 1993, Populonia e il suo territorio profilo storico-archeologico (Firenze).
Fossa-Mancini E 1922, ‘L’arte mineraria e metallurgica al tempo degli Etruschi: ciò che hanno rivelato gli scavi di Populonia’, La Miniera Italiana 6 (Roma), 225-31.
Kresten P 1984, ‘The ore-slag technology link: examples from bloomery and blast furnace sites in Dalrna, Sweden’, in B G Scott and H Cleere (eds), The crafts of the blacksmith (Belfast), 29-33.
Leroy M 1997, La sidérurgie en Lorraine avant le haut fourneau. L’utilisation du minerai de fer oolithique en réduction directe (Paris).
Mariani A 2000, Studio archeometallurgico di resti dei forni siderurgici etruschi provenienti da quartieri industriali di Baratti (Populonia). Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
Martelli M 1981, ‘Scavo di edifici nella zona «industriale» di Populonia’, in L S Olschki (ed), L’Etruria Mineraria, Atti XII Convegno Studi Etruschi e Italici (Firenze), 161-72.
Miles H 1975, ‘Barrows on the St Austell Granite, Cornwall’, Cornish Archeology 14, 5-81.
Rescic S 1998, Studio archeometrico delle scorie e dei resti di carica mineraria provenienti dalla necropoli del Casone (Populonia). Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
Serneels V 1994, ‘L’apport des analyses chimiques de minerais, scories et produits associés à l’étude de la sidérurgie ancienne’, Annales litteraires de l’Université de Besançon, 536, Série Archéologie 40, 75-81.
Sperl G 1980, Über die Typologie urzeitlicher, frühgeschichtlicher und mittelalterlicher Eisenhüttenschlacken (Wien).
Strillozzi B 1998, Studio di scorie ferrifere etrusche della zona di Baratti-Populonia. Unpublished thesis (Firenze).
Tanelli G 1985, ‘I depositi metalliferi dell’Etruria e le attività estrattive degli Etruschi’, in G. Bretschneider (ed), Atti II Congresso Internazionale Etrusco, 3 (Roma), 1-14.
Tanelli G, Morelli F and Benvenuti M 1993, ‘I minerali del Campigliese: beni ambientali, culturali e industriali’, Boll Soc Geol It 112, 715-28.
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe (London).
Venerandi-Pirri I and Zuffardi P 1981, ‘The tin deposit of Monte Valerio (Tuscany): new factual observations for a genetic discussion’, Rendiconti Società Italiana Mineralogia e Petrologia
37(1), 525-39.
Voss O 1988, ‘The Iron Production in Populonia’, in PACT, The First Iron in the Mediterranean (Strasbourg), 91-100.
How to Cite
Iron, copper and tin at Baratti, Populonia: smelting processes and metal provenances. (2022). Historical Metallurgy, 34(2), 67-76. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/286
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How to Cite
Iron, copper and tin at Baratti, Populonia: smelting processes and metal provenances. (2022). Historical Metallurgy, 34(2), 67-76. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/286