Investigation on Manufacturing Process in Some Elamite Copper Alloy Artefacts from Haft Tappeh, South-west Iran
The archaeometallurgy of copper have been pioneer technologies in ancient Iran and goes back to about ten thousand years ago in Iranian Plateau [1, 2]. The Haft Tappeh Middle Elamite Site is located in Southwest Iran and have been an important city belonging to early phase of Middle Elamite period (14th century BCE) [3, 4]. Based on various metallurgical evidences found in archaeological excavations, such as metalworking workshop, slag, smelted copper as well as numerous copper alloy artefacts, extensive metallurgical activities have done in Haft Tappeh and it has been an important center in smelting and manufacturing copper alloys in second millennium BC [4, 5]. To identify metallurgical process of metallic artefacts in Haft Tappeh including alloying composition, inclusions and phases as well as manufacturing and shaping, seven metallic fragments have studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and optical microscopy.
The Elamite metalworkers: multianalytical study on copper objects and ingots from second millennium BC of southwestern Iran
An analytical study was performed on copper alloy objects and ingots/prills from Haft Tappeh Middle Elamite site, southwestern Iran, fourteenth century BC. The samples were analysed by micro-PIXE and SEM-EDS methods to characterise chemical composition and different phases in their microstructure. The results showed that the main objects’ compositions are copper with impurities and variable-Sn containing tin bronze. Furthermore, most of the ingots/prills are composed of copper with high concentration of iron and sulphur while in two samples tin bronze ingot/prill is detected. Based on the results, the main metallurgical operation in Haft Tappeh may be matte production to make metallic copper and producing tin bronze alloy probably by cementation.
A History of Metallography
A History of MetallographyThe Development of Ideas on the Structure of Metals before 1890. By Prof. Cyril Stanley Smith. Pp. xxi + 291. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press; London: Cambridge University Press, 1960.) 8.50 dollars; 68s.