Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy)
An archaeometallurgical characterization of two iron smelting tap slags recovered from the early medieval site of Ponte di Val Gabbia I (Brescia, northern Italy) was performed. The main goal was to infer from the slags the working conditions of the ancient bloomery furnace in terms of temperature an...
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/5/984 |
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| author | Paolomarco Merico Michela Faccoli Daniele La Corte Giovanna Cornacchia |
| author_facet | Paolomarco Merico Michela Faccoli Daniele La Corte Giovanna Cornacchia |
| author_sort | Paolomarco Merico |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An archaeometallurgical characterization of two iron smelting tap slags recovered from the early medieval site of Ponte di Val Gabbia I (Brescia, northern Italy) was performed. The main goal was to infer from the slags the working conditions of the ancient bloomery furnace in terms of temperature and oxygen chemical potential. The petrology of both slags was investigated by light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, while their chemical compositions were measured via scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray dispersive spectroscopy. High-resolution Raman micro-spectrometry was used to confirm the identification of the mineralogical phases. The software Rhyolite-MELTS was used to compute the liquidus temperatures of the two slags, which were found to be 1120 °C and 1146 °C. These temperatures approximate the working temperature of the bloomery furnace. A thermodynamic-based approach was adopted to estimate the redox conditions of the reducing atmosphere of the smelting furnace, revealing that the two slags formed in different redox environments. Specifically, the resulting oxygen chemical potentials were −382.61 kJ/mol and −243.80 kJ/mol at the liquidus temperatures of 1120 °C and 1146 °C, respectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:29:42Z |
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| issn | 2075-4701 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:29:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-5315506d971144268ffc3ab3401fcaf42023-11-18T02:28:35ZengMDPI AGMetals2075-47012023-05-0113598410.3390/met13050984Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy)Paolomarco Merico0Michela Faccoli1Daniele La Corte2Giovanna Cornacchia3Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, ItalyAn archaeometallurgical characterization of two iron smelting tap slags recovered from the early medieval site of Ponte di Val Gabbia I (Brescia, northern Italy) was performed. The main goal was to infer from the slags the working conditions of the ancient bloomery furnace in terms of temperature and oxygen chemical potential. The petrology of both slags was investigated by light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, while their chemical compositions were measured via scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray dispersive spectroscopy. High-resolution Raman micro-spectrometry was used to confirm the identification of the mineralogical phases. The software Rhyolite-MELTS was used to compute the liquidus temperatures of the two slags, which were found to be 1120 °C and 1146 °C. These temperatures approximate the working temperature of the bloomery furnace. A thermodynamic-based approach was adopted to estimate the redox conditions of the reducing atmosphere of the smelting furnace, revealing that the two slags formed in different redox environments. Specifically, the resulting oxygen chemical potentials were −382.61 kJ/mol and −243.80 kJ/mol at the liquidus temperatures of 1120 °C and 1146 °C, respectively.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/5/984archaeometallurgyLombardsthermodynamicsbloomery slagmicro-Raman investigation |
| spellingShingle | Paolomarco Merico Michela Faccoli Daniele La Corte Giovanna Cornacchia Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) Metals archaeometallurgy Lombards thermodynamics bloomery slag micro-Raman investigation |
| title | Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) |
| title_full | Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) |
| title_fullStr | Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) |
| title_short | Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Two Lombard Early Medieval Bloomery Slags from Ponte di Val Gabbia I Site (Northern Italy) |
| title_sort | archaeometallurgical characterization of two lombard early medieval bloomery slags from ponte di val gabbia i site northern italy |
| topic | archaeometallurgy Lombards thermodynamics bloomery slag micro-Raman investigation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4701/13/5/984 |
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