Arsenic Bronze: Dirty Copper or Chosen Alloy? A View from the Americas

Metal for Zambujal: experimentally reconstructing a 5000-year-old technology

“…A higher arsenic content produces a lighter colored metal as well as endowing the metal with greater hardness than pure copper (cf. Lechtmann 1996;Müller et al 2007;Gauß in press). Another plausible hypothesis is that the higher arsenic contents of daggers and Bronze Age halberds reflects a less frequent remelting of the metal used (i.e.…”

Moldes para puñales en la Península Ibérica durante la Edad del Bronce. El caso de Camp Cinzano (Vilafranca del Penedès, Alt Penedès, Barcelona)

“…Según los datos metalográficos y experimentales actuales hay límites para el conformado mediante forja en frío. El cobre puro, incluso con cantidades importantes de arsénico, no puede modificarse más allá del 85% de su tamaño original, reduciéndose la transformación en el bronce hasta el 30-45% (Lechtman 1996;Ottaway y Wang 2004: 64). El metal resultante requeriría, inevitablemente, sucesivos recocidos reparadores para evitar su rápida rotura.…”

Strategic Industries and Tin in the Ancient Near East: Anatolia Updated

“…The advantages of using arsenic as an alloying material with copper were soon recognized, especially given the improvements in mechanical properties (Northover 1989). Optimum hardness for a copper alloy with arsenic is 5-8% giving superior ductility (for casting) and can be worked hot or cold without breaking (Lechtman 1996). Tin above two percent, on the other hand, gives greater hardness and slightly superior strength to copper (Craddock 1995) than arsenic and optimum hardness is achieved at 8-12% (Charles 1967;Lechtman 1996).…”

“…Optimum hardness for a copper alloy with arsenic is 5-8% giving superior ductility (for casting) and can be worked hot or cold without breaking (Lechtman 1996). Tin above two percent, on the other hand, gives greater hardness and slightly superior strength to copper (Craddock 1995) than arsenic and optimum hardness is achieved at 8-12% (Charles 1967;Lechtman 1996). Prefer ences for tin or arsenic may also have been cultur¬ ally mediated as tin based bronzes are golden in coloring and arsenic segregation in copper yields an attractive silvery color.…”