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Use traces on crucibles and tuyères? : An archaeological experiment in ancient metallurgy

Botwid, Katarina LU and Eklöv Pettersson, Paul LU (2016) In BAR International Series 2785. p.21-28
Abstract
To what extent can we identify sites where metallurgy has been conducted by studying the ceramic residue found at the site? Ceramic tools used for metal casting, such as crucibles, claymoulds and tuyères- so called ‘technical ceramics' - are often used as indicators of metalcrafts.Their often vitrified and sintered appearance is, on many occasions, used as traits of identification.This article discusses a crucible and a tuyère that show no clear traces of vitrification, and whether or not the objects should be disregarded as technical ceramics. By building reconstructions of these two objects and testing them in an archaeological experiment, we have been able to study the traces of use on the reconstruction and compare them to the two... (More)
To what extent can we identify sites where metallurgy has been conducted by studying the ceramic residue found at the site? Ceramic tools used for metal casting, such as crucibles, claymoulds and tuyères- so called ‘technical ceramics' - are often used as indicators of metalcrafts.Their often vitrified and sintered appearance is, on many occasions, used as traits of identification.This article discusses a crucible and a tuyère that show no clear traces of vitrification, and whether or not the objects should be disregarded as technical ceramics. By building reconstructions of these two objects and testing them in an archaeological experiment, we have been able to study the traces of use on the reconstruction and compare them to the two artefacts. In this article we argue that signs of use, such as vitrification and sintering, are not always present on used tuyères and crucibles and that we should also try to look for other signs of use when classifying archaeological materials as technical ceramics. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Technical ceramics, Tuyére, Crucible, Bronze casting, Experimental archaeology, Ceramic artefacts
host publication
Prehistoric pottery across the Baltic : regions, influences and methods - regions, influences and methods
series title
BAR International Series
editor
Eklöv Pettersson, Paul
volume
2785
pages
21 - 28
publisher
British Archaeological Reports (BAR)
ISSN
0143-3067
ISBN
9781407314631
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dcfb1cb2-640d-4ad6-9d04-122bc417fe39
date added to LUP
2024-02-23 14:24:51
date last changed
2024-02-26 09:20:55
@inproceedings{dcfb1cb2-640d-4ad6-9d04-122bc417fe39,
  abstract     = {{To what extent can we identify sites where metallurgy has been conducted by studying the ceramic residue found at the site? Ceramic tools used for metal casting, such as crucibles, claymoulds and tuyères- so called ‘technical ceramics' - are often used as indicators of metalcrafts.Their often vitrified and sintered appearance is, on many occasions, used as traits of identification.This article discusses a crucible and a tuyère that show no clear traces of vitrification, and whether or not the objects should be disregarded as technical ceramics. By building reconstructions of these two objects and testing them in an archaeological experiment, we have been able to study the traces of use on the reconstruction and compare them to the two artefacts. In this article we argue that signs of use, such as vitrification and sintering, are not always present on used tuyères and crucibles and that we should also try to look for other signs of use when classifying archaeological materials as technical ceramics.}},
  author       = {{Botwid, Katarina and Eklöv Pettersson, Paul}},
  booktitle    = {{Prehistoric pottery across the Baltic : regions, influences and methods}},
  editor       = {{Eklöv Pettersson, Paul}},
  isbn         = {{9781407314631}},
  issn         = {{0143-3067}},
  keywords     = {{Technical ceramics; Tuyére; Crucible; Bronze casting; Experimental archaeology; Ceramic artefacts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{21--28}},
  publisher    = {{British Archaeological Reports (BAR)}},
  series       = {{BAR International Series}},
  title        = {{Use traces on crucibles and tuyères? : An archaeological experiment in ancient metallurgy}},
  volume       = {{2785}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}