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.
Archaeometallurgy of copper in the Middle Elamite period of southwestern Iran: Analytical investigation of various parts of the copper production in Haft Tappeh
Abstract The Elamite period (ca. 3000 to 640 BC) hosts one of the earliest kingdoms to arise on the Iranian Plateau, and its metallurgy displays significant technical and industrial sophistication in comparison with the prehistoric period industries in other regions of Iran. This paper presents results of an analytical study of different metallurgical materials from the important Middle Elamite site of Haft Tappeh (ca. 1400 BC), including slags, metallic ingots/prills and objects. The samples were analysed by chemical and microanalytical methods including, ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, WD-XRF, EPMA and thin section petrography. Based on the results, the primary copper smelting process applied at Haft Tappeh was a partially incomplete smelting process that may be interpreted as a two-step procedure, including partial smelting of copper from sulphidic ores leading to matte production and refining the copper ingots/prills to obtain metallic copper. Also, the cementation of copper and cassiterite was the main process used to make tin bronze ingots/prills; however, for producing bronze, the ancient Elamite metalworkers might have known the direct smelting of mixed copper-tin ores as well. A third technique used at Haft Tappeh was the manufacturing of different, small objects made of impure copper and/or tin bronze. Thus, it is probable to introduce the copper-base metallurgy in Haft Tappeh as three main stages including copper smelting from sulphidic copper ores, the refining of early copper ingots/prills and production of tin bronze in different ways.
Perceived job importance and job performance satisfaction of selected clinical nutrition management responsibilities.
A nationwide survey of clinical nutrition managers was conducted to assess perceived importance of selected job responsibilities and perceived performance satisfaction of those job responsibilities. A questionnaire was developed to achieve the study objectives, validated by an expert panel, and pilot-tested prior to data collection. All members of the American Dietetic Association's Clinical Nutrition Management dietetic practice group (N=1,668) were asked to rate the importance of selected job responsibilities and their satisfaction with those responsibilities using Likert-type scales with descriptions. Results revealed that clinical nutrition managers perceived all job responsibilities listed in the questionnaire to be important (ie, the mean score of each responsibility was >3.0 of a 4.0 scale). Respondents rated regulatory-related job responsibilities as most important and were most satisfied with their performance of these responsibilities. Following regulatory-related responsibilities, clinical nutrition managers perceived patient satisfaction and staff retention to be more important than other responsibilities. In general, clinical nutrition managers were more satisfied with their job performance for job responsibilities that they ranked as more important.