Pre‐Industrial Iron Smelting and Silver Extraction in North‐Eastern Greece: an Archaeometallurgical Approach

Abstract

In contrast to Western Europe's well‐documented contribution to global industrialization, Eastern Europe has not received adequate attention. This paper addresses this asymmetry by defining a secure socio‐technical framework for the development of metallurgical technology in one of the most important mineralized zones in Eastern Europe, namely the uplands of north‐eastern Greece. The interplay of technological innovation, geography and social process has made this region central in European political history from the Classical and Roman periods up to recent times. Metal procurement has been crucial particularly between the 15th and 19th centuries ad, when armed conflicts escalated across the Balkans and the high inflation throughout Europe increased the demand for raw materials from the East. Field data from north‐eastern Greece and instrumental analysis corroborate the concept of iron extraction during this period from complex ores that were potentially used for their precious metals contents as well. Chemical analysis of slag points to iron bloomery processes, while analysis of respective residues (speiss) reveals significant concentrations of silver and thus testifies to the extraction of precious metals. This study addresses concerns that preoccupy political and technological minds today, and provides a context for understanding the effects of changing attitudes to the environment, social development, consumption and natural resources.

War and commercial exchanges in the late medieval Aegean: Investigating the metal provenance of the Chalcis Hoard

“…The use of titanium-rich magnetite sands as iron ore source for bloomery furnaces were already reported. Most of the references point to Africa and Asia (Ige and Rehren, 2003;Iles and Martinó N-Torres, 2009;Killick and Miller, 2014;Park and Rehren, 2011) the Black Sea (Tylecote, 1981) and to northern Greece (Nerantzis, 2009;Nerantzis et al, 2022;Photos, 1987),…”

“…In the late Byzantine period, magnetite sands were important iron sources (Photos, 1987). Numerous slag heaps in the Vrontou attest to the continuation of iron mining and smelting activities in Macedonia during the Ottoman period (Nerantzis, 2009;Photos, 1987).…”

Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Provincial Silver Coinage of Judah: More on the Chaîne Opératoire of the Minting Process

“…A partial cupellation process resulted in silver alloy with lead presence. Hence, low quantities or absence of lead in the silver alloy points towards a successful silver refining process [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. In addition, high content of lead transforms the silver alloy into a brittle material after a long burial period.…”