Blowpipes versus Bellows in Ancient Metallurgy

Rehder, J. E.

doi:10.1179/009346994791547562

Cited by 22 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…A slag fragment with a similar feature is best explained as the negative of the air stream leaving the tuyère. Based on Rehder (1994), their reconstructed diameter strongly suggests their use with bellows, making the Chalcolithic Southern Levant potentially one of the earliest bellow-using cultures. Operating the pit furnaces with bellows is further supported by general considerations about how this furnace type was operated (Rehder, 2000) and a previous archaeological experiment (Rose, Fabian, & Goren, 2021b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Rehder (1994), the diameter of the channel is too large to create a well‐focused and sufficiently strong air stream with lung force, that is, blowpipes. However, it falls nicely into his range of bellow tuyère diameters, suggesting bellowing as a draught technique in the Chalcolithic Northern Negev.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using bellows instead of tuyères comes with several advantages. The area heated with bellows is considerably larger than with blowpipes at a strongly reduced (wo)manpower (Rehder, 1994). This advantage is even more pronounced if the blowpipes were concentrated at the same spot as suggested by Golden et al (2001), unlikely to heat efficiently a large area of the furnace, whereas Rose, Fabian, and Goren (2021b) showed that a single bellow can efficiently heat large parts of the furnace to the required temperatures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar

Rose,

Natali,

Brotzu

et al. 2023

Archaeometry

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Unalloyed copper objects were produced in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant in a two‐step process. Copper ore was smelted in pit furnaces, and the mechanically extracted copper prills melt in crucibles and cast into objects. However, the air supply remained unknown, and practical considerations shed doubt on the validity of some of the reconstructed practices. To refine the reconstruction, the metallurgical material from Abu Matar was reassessed. Most importantly, several previously unreported fragments suggest the use of bellows and covering the furnace with large pottery fragments. Our results provide probably the earliest evidence for the use of bellows.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar

Rose,

Natali,

Brotzu

et al. 2023

Archaeometry

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“…How ever, the lack of cop per ox ides in this sam ple could be ex plained also by a dif ferent method of cast ing of the cop per metal or, more likely, by the fact that this ob ject was shaped by the ham mer ing of a pre viously ren dered cop per in got. Ac cord ing to Rehder (1994), with the pres ence of cu prite in cop per a num ber of mi nor and trace el e ments are ox i dized, mean ing that dur ing cru ci ble smelt ing a re fin ing ef fect might oc cur due to the ten dency of cop per to ox idize. This is in ac cor dance with Mer kel's (1990) ob ser va tions that a no tice able change in the trace el e ment pat tern only occurs with a de lib er ate in put of air into the cop per bath.…”

Section: Discussion Chemical Composition -Inclusionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Copper sulphosalts in early metallurgy (2600–1900 BC) – chemical-mineralogical investigation of artefacts from southern Poland

Bugaj

Nejbert

Ilnicki

et al. 2019

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1 Pol ish Acad emy of Sci ences, In sti tute of Ar chae ol ogy and Eth nol ogy, al. Solidarnooeci 105, 00-140 Warszawa, Po land 2 Uni ver sity of War saw, Fac ulty of Ge ol ogy, ¯wirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 Warszawa, Po land 3 War saw Uni ver sity of Tech nol ogy, Fac ulty of Chem is try, Noakowskiego 3, 00-664 Warszawa, Poland 4 War saw Uni ver sity of Tech nol ogy, Fac ulty of Ma te rial Sci ence and En gi neer ing, Wo³oska 141, 02-507 Warszawa, Po land 5 Pol ish Acad emy of Sci ences, In sti tute of Ar chae ol ogy and Eth nol ogy, S³awkowska 17, 31-016 Kraków, Po land Bugaj, U., Nejbert, K., Ilnicki, S., Wieciñski, P., Onyszczuk, T., Garbacz, H., W³odarczak, P., 2019. Cop per sulphosalts in early met al lurgy (2600-1900 BC) -chem i cal-min er al og i cal in ves ti ga tion of artefacts from south ern Po land. Geo log i cal Quar terly, 63 (2): 302-318, doi: 10.7306/gq.1473We de scribe a meth od ol ogy of in ves ti ga tion of both Cu metal ma trix and its min eral in clu sions that aims at in creas ing the effec tive ness of iden ti fy ing the type of ore used in metal pro duc tion. We point to sulphosalt ores as the main source of metal for the Fi nal Neo lithic/Early Bronze Age cop per artefacts from south ern Po land. The in clu sions, rich in Ag, As, Sb and Sn, doc ument the type of ore, re gard less of the met al lur gi cal pro cess lead ing to de ple tion of As and Sb. The cop per metal should contain nei ther Sb nor As, hence both of these el e ments, if orig i nally pres ent in ore, can be pre served only in in clu sions. The con cen tra tions of Ag, Sb, As and Sn in the artefacts in ves ti gated, the pres ence of in clu sions, and their chem i cal com po si tion, are the key in di ca tors for the de ter mi na tion of the min er al og i cal com po si tion of the orig i nal ores. Given the high con cen trations of Sb, As and Ag in the Cu metal and min er al ogy of the in clu sions, the ore must have con tained vary ing pro por tions of Ag-bear ing tetrahedrite (Cu,Fe) 12 Sb 4 S 13 and ten nan tite (Cu,Fe) 12 As 4 S 13 . Min er al og i cal com po si tions of the cop per ores in dicate the de pos its in Slovakia (Špania Dol ina) as the source of metal for the artefacts in ves ti gated. The re sults of Pb and Cu iso to pic anal y ses car ried out for this study sup port those con clu sions.

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“…The evidence found at Itziparatzico raises important questions about the chronological context and development of the primary production of copper at the site. The technology employed in the process involved an efficient, highly reducing smelting environment, which would be difficult to achieve using lung-powered blowpipes (Rehder 1994). If the smelting activities at Itziparatzico involved the use of bellows, we may well be dealing with a relatively early post-Contact production area that greatly overlapped with pre-Hispanic traditions, as indicated by the ceramic and lithic evidence.…”

Section: The System Of Production Of Metal Goodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Tentative Model of the Organization of Copper Production in the Tarascan State

Maldonado¹

2008

Ancient Mesoam

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At the time of the Spanish conquest, the main locus of metal production in Mesoamerica was the Tarascan region of western Mexico. Scholars have argued that mining and metallurgy evolved into a state industry, as metal adornments used as insignias of social status and public ritual became closely associated with political control. In spite of its importance, however, Tarascan metallurgy is poorly documented. The extractive processes involved and the organization of the different aspects of this production are virtually unknown. Numerous questions arise from the notion that metal items functioned as wealth finance in the economy of the Tarascan state of Late Postclassic period Michoacan. Foremost among these is whether and how wealth was produced and controlled by the central power. This paper combines archaeological and ethnohistorical data to propose a model for pre-Hispanic copper production among the Tarascans. The goal of this analysis is to gain insights into the nature of metal production and its role in the major state apparatus. This will also provide clues to a better understanding of the development of technology and political economy in ancient Mesoamerica.

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Blowpipes versus Bellows in Ancient Metallurgy

Cited by 22 publications

References 3 publications

Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar

Bellows and furnace covers in the unalloyed copper metallurgy of the Chalcolithic Southern Levant: reassessing the evidence from Abu Matar

Copper sulphosalts in early metallurgy (2600–1900 BC) – chemical-mineralogical investigation of artefacts from southern Poland

A Tentative Model of the Organization of Copper Production in the Tarascan State

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