Tentative chemical characterization of a smelting workshop (Oulches, France) : from the ore to the finished product
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8 septembre 2008
- handle: 10670/1.7djg5p
- hal: hal-01588977
Mots-clés
trace elements smelting worshop Bloomery Chemical characterisation Iron metallurgy Roman period Iron smelting slag compositionSujets proches
Minor elements Microelements Trace minerals Micronutrients Accessory elements Minerals, TraceCiter ce document
Marie-Pierre Coustures et al., « Tentative chemical characterization of a smelting workshop (Oulches, France) : from the ore to the finished product », HAL-SHS : archéologie, ID : 10670/1.7djg5p
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Résumé
At the bloomery site of Oulches (France), the following data were analysed: the mineralogical specificities and chemical compositions of major – i.e. ICP-AES, EDS coupled to SEM – and trace elements – i.e. ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS – of ores, smelting slags and slag inclusions in iron artefacts found at this Roman workshop. The 'sig-nature' derived from major and trace elements displays a variability which, to date, has never been observed in workshops previously studied in other locations. This spe-cificity could result from the mixing of ores, which, when characterised, have shown an extreme diversity (6 different types of ore were identified). Yet, a set of particularly revealing chemical features may enable the identification of iron products from the Oulches workshop, on condition that this approach of the traceability of ancient iron artefacts be grounded beforehand on solid historical and archaeological assumptions.