The smelting of copper in the third millennium cal BC Trentino, north-eastern Italy

M. Pearce, S. Merkel, A. Hauptmann, F. Nicolis

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents observations and analyses on seven slag pieces from two third-millennium cal BC (Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age) rock shelters in the Trentino, north-eastern Italy: La Vela di Valbusa and the Riparo di Monte Terlago. We review previous work on contemporary slags from the region and show that the smelting did not follow the well-known ‘Timna’, ‘Eibner’ or so-called ‘Chalcolithic’ copper smelting processes. We show that ethnographic accounts of copper smelting in the Himalayas (Sikkim and Nepal) illuminate the smelting process, in particular the lack of preliminary roasting or ore beneficiation by washing, the use of slags as fluxes for the first smelt (matte smelting) and the use of wooden (?) implements to lift the hot slags from the furnace during the smelt. The rock inclusions in the slag are consistent with an ore origin from mines at Calceranica or Vetriolo, as previously reported in the literature.
Original languageEnglish
Article number10
JournalArchaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2022
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The analyses for this project were undertaken when Mark Pearce was hosted at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, funded by a Leverhulme Trust International Academic Fellowship (IAF-2016-013). The research was generously authorised by the Ufficio Beni Archeologici of the Provincia autonoma of Trento. The authors thank Giampaolo Dalmeri and Stefano Neri (MUSE – Museo delle Scienze, Trento) for kindly providing slag from the Riparo di Monte Terlago and generously providing stratigraphical information and an unpublished radiocarbon date. The authors acknowledge Thomas Stöllner (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Thomas Kirnbauer (Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola), Elena Silvestri, Paolo Bellintani, Elisabetta Mottes (Ufficio Beni Archeologici, Provincia autonoma di Trento), Peter Thomas, Michael Bode, Andreas Ludwig, Regina Kutz, Sandra Kruse (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum) and Umberto Tecchiati (University of Milan). Figs 1 , 2 and 10 were drawn by Fabio Saccoccio (University of Nottingham). Two anonymous referees provided helpful suggestions for which we are grateful. The analyses for this project were undertaken when Mark Pearce was hosted at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, funded by the Leverhulme Trust International Academic Fellowship (IAF-2016–013).

FundersFunder number
Fabio Saccoccio
Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola
Thomas Kirnbauer
Ufficio Beni Archeologici of the Provincia autonoma of Trento
Leverhulme TrustIAF-2016–013
University of Nottingham
Provincia Autonoma di Trento

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