Lead provenance study in medieval metallic materials from Madinat al-Zahra (Medina Azahara, Córdoba)

Gener, M.; Montero‐Ruiz, Ignacio; Murillo-Barroso, Mercedes; Manzano, Eduardo; Vallejo, Antonio Buero

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2014.01.029

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The use of waste products (slag, litharge) from ancient mining activities for glassmaking cannot be excluded but seems unlikely. While copper and lead recycling was a common practice during the early caliphal period in al-Andalus ( 50 ), silver and lead mining was firmly established in the early Islamic period. For example, Islamic lighting devices and 8th- to 10th-century silver coins were found in some of the galleries of the mines of Los Pedroches ( 49 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ex novo development of lead glassmaking in early Umayyad Spain

Schibille

Ares

García

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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This study investigates glass finds from the Iberian Peninsula as a proxy for identifying the mechanisms underlying technological transformations and innovation in the wake of the Arab conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. High-resolution laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry data combined with lead isotope analyses of a precisely dated (mid-eighth century to 818 CE) glass assemblage from the Rabad of Šaqunda in Cordoba, capital of Umayyad Spain, enabled us to trace the origins of an Iberian glassmaking industry and to unambiguously link it to the exploitation of local raw materials. The analytical data reveal increased recycling, some isolated imports of Islamic plant ash glasses from Mesopotamia, and, most notably, the development of a new type of glassmaking technology that resorted to the use of lead slag from silver and lead mining and processing in the region around Cordoba. The production of this type of lead glass from Šaqunda was short-lived and was subsequently refined by introducing additional fluxing agents. The technological innovation of Islamic glassmaking in Spain evidently drew inspiration from adjacent high-temperature technologies. The revival of glass and the development of a local glassmaking tradition was indirectly related to the wider processes of Islamization, such as the introduction of glazed ceramics that are compositionally related to the lead glasses from Šaqunda.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ex novo development of lead glassmaking in early Umayyad Spain

Schibille

Ares

García

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…With regard to the geological samples, some 700 LIA of the main lead‐mining districts of the Iberian Peninsula are available: these clearly differentiate the Pyrite Belt, the Ossa‐Morena and Central zones, the south‐east (Murcia and Almeria provinces), Linares and Catalonia (most data are available in Oxalid; references included in Gener et al . , 159).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Macro‐Regional Scale of Silver Production in Iberia During the First Millennium BC in the Context of Mediterranean Contacts

Murillo-Barroso¹,

Montero‐Ruiz

Rafel

et al. 2016

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary The extraction of silver has traditionally been considered as one of the main incentives for the Phoenician expansion throughout the Mediterranean and their settlement in Iberia. In this paper, we approach the organization of silver production in Iberia during the Early Iron Age through the study of the evidence of production currently available and the development of Lead Isotope Analysis (LIA). Previous results (Hunt 2003; Stos Gale 2001; Kassianidou 1992) are considered in the light of new data. The extraction of silver from complex minerals noticeably intensifies in south‐west Iberia. Imports of exogenous lead, needed for the extraction of silver from these complex minerals, are evident. Supplies of lead come in from other regions of Iberia, such as Gádor, Cartagena/Mazarrón, Linares or even the mining district of Molar‐Belmunt‐Falset (MBF) in Catalonia. This picture reveals that the organization of silver production was much more complex than initially thought, with the articulation of an exchange network of raw materials at a macro‐territorial scale embracing almost all Iberia. The socioeconomic implications that control of these networks of lead distribution could have had are also discussed.

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“…On the one hand, leaving specialised bell casting aside, it seems that tin may not have been routinely accessible, and perhaps mostly available in the form of recycled Etruscan or Roman bronzes. On the other hand, the preference for brass is often associated to Islamic metalwork (Allan, 1979;Craddock, 1979;Ponting, 1999;Gener et al, 2014), and it is therefore particularly significant that we document it in a town that was dominated by a Christian church and initially founded to protect against threats from Islamic invaders: clearly, political borders and tensions did not prevent the transmission of aesthetic preferences, materials, knowledge and individuals. It is hoped that ongoing trace element and isotopic analyses of these items, particularly the amalgam silvered buttons but also fire-gilded and fusion-silvered jewellery also recorded at the site, may shed light on whether these particular items reflect the transfer of knowledge or of actual artefacts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Several authors consider it a decorative method only marginally used to give small object an aesthetic appeal or for fraudulent purposes (Anheuser, 1997;Borges et al, 2008). The use of amalgam gilding has been recorded on medieval Islamic objects (Barrio et al, 2004;Chamón Fernández, 2010;Gener et al, 2014), and similar technological and cultural influences may be behind these buttons. It is worth highlighting that the silvering was undertaken on a brass substrate as opposed to pure copper -the latter would have made the silvering process easier (cf.…”

Section: Brassmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lead provenance study in medieval metallic materials from Madinat al-Zahra (Medina Azahara, Córdoba)

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Ex novo development of lead glassmaking in early Umayyad Spain

Ex novo development of lead glassmaking in early Umayyad Spain

The Macro‐Regional Scale of Silver Production in Iberia During the First Millennium BC in the Context of Mediterranean Contacts

Copper-alloy use in a Tyrrhenian medieval town: The case of Leopoli-Cencelle (Italy)

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