Book Chapters

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1/ Méthodologie en archéologie expérimentale – Définition et protocole

 

Georges Verly & Alexandre Longelin 

 

Abstract

 

This article revolves around the following principles: experimental archaeology is a scientific research tool with functionalist purposes. It belongs to mediationist archaeology since it allows the testing of hypotheses by their refutability. Being a sub-speciality of archaeology, experimental archaeology uses interdisciplinary founding principles in order to formulate specific hypotheses. Its results are validated against archaeological data and teleologies that are defined beforehand. These results are then spread across interdisciplinary sources in order to stimulate research.

After contextualizing the source of our research and drawing attention to the need to consider any hypothesis according to the experimental science principles, we will support our statements along two lines: the development of a methodological framework and elaboration of a working protocol.

On the one hand we attempt to establish an accurate definition of the experimental archaeology concept, to describe its scientific objectives and means as well as its contributions, limits and weaknesses.

On the other hand we introduce a working protocol draft in six different steps, and submit a case study for illustrative purposes.

 

Keywords

 

Experimental Archaeology – Functionalist tool – Experimental science – Methodology – Protocol – Refutability – Validity.

 

2/ L’archéologie expérimentale en paléométallurgie: Quelques réflexions à partir de l’exemple français

 

Florian Téreygeol 

 

Abstract

 

The experimental archaeology on metals is intimately bound to the development of the research on ancient metallurgy. This scope of study appears in France in immediate post-war years. However, experimental archeology does not become embedded in archaeological practice before the 80s, followed by the inclusion of archaeometrists and historians. Today, the experimental archaeology on metals has gained respectability and develops more particularly within dedicated platforms.

 

Key-words

 

Paleometallurgy, historiography, experimental platform, experimental archaeology, experiential archaeology.

 

3/ Broyer le minerai et affiner l’argent à Castel-Minier : deux exemples d’une approche intégrée de l’expérimentation

 

Joseph Gauthier, Julien Flament, Francesca Silenzi & Florian Téreygeol 

 

Abstract

 

Since 2003 several corpuses related to both mineral processing and metallurgy were unearthed during excavations at Castel-Minier (Ariège, France). These artefacts allow focusing our research on two crucial steps of the chaîne opératoire of argentiferous lead during the 14th and 15th centuries. On the one hand we study mineral processing, especially ore grinding, which is illustrated by several millstones recovered on the site. On the other hand an exceptional corpus of impregnated hearth linings reflects silver production through the cupellation process. Starting from these two examples we try to demonstrate how the combination of experimental archaeology, field archaeology and archaeometry strengthens our functional understanding of artefacts by equally provides a critical perspective on the chaînes opératoires.

 

Keywords

 

Ore beneficiation, millstone, impregnated litharge cakes, silver metallurgy, Middle Ages.

 

4/ De la mine au creuset : l’essai de la chalcopyrite au flux noir

 

Julien Flament & Florian Téreygeol 

 

Abstract

 

Like textual and archaeological data, experimentation provides a valuable source to discuss medieval mining and metallurgical technology. In close association with excavations carried out in the Pyrenean site of Castel-Minier (Ariège, France), experimentations are part of a comprehensive approach which aims to understand the functional organisation of the metallurgical workshop and its chaînes opératoires. Copper metallurgies and alloying practices were recently identified thanks to a large corpus of ores, slags and metallic artefacts. Experimentations were focused on the assay of archaeological chalcopyrite following the recipe of Lazarus Ercker (ca. 1530-1594) given in its 1574 treatise on ores and essaying. Besides the study and the experimental reconstruction of the recipe, our work led to the production of metallic copper and related by-products on which archaeometric analyses were carried out. These analogs improve our knowledge the chaîne opératoire of chalcopyrite and they provide opportunities to address the issue of the quality of archaeological copper alloys.

 

Key words

 

Lazarus Ercker, chalcopyrite, black flux, Castel-Minier, ore essaying.

 

5/ Archaeological experimentation and thermodynamic interpretation of chloride-sulphate gold cementation based on ancient texts and evidence from Sardis

 

David Loepp, Daniela Ferro, Angela Celauro & Sergio Brutti

 

Abstract

 

The chemical processes involved in ancient gold refining are investigated through comparative studies of ancient texts and archaeological evidence from the Sardis gold refining site. Ancient cementation recipes are composed in most cases of sulphates and chlorides. Experimentation based on sulphates of a single divalent metal were initially preferred, while subsequent experiments were undertaken with natural mineral assemblages identified through interpretations of ancient texts. The cementation process was replicated in experimental archaeology in order to analyze the composition of the products obtained for each specific chemical equation. Thermodynamic considerations indicate the reliability of the chemical processes over a wide temperature range.

 

Keywords

 

Ancient gold refining, cementation, experimental archaeology, Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, thermodynamic modelling.

 

6/ Le dépôt du Bronze final III du « Trou des Nutons » d’Aiseau-Presles (prov. de Hainaut). Études archéologiques et technologiques autour d’un entonnoir de coulée.

 

Georges Verly, Eugène Warmenbol & Frederik W. Rademakers

 

Abstract

 

The bronze objects described in this paper have been found in 1904 near or in the cave called « Trou des Nutons », on the territory of Aiseau-Presles (province of Hainaut). They could be the last remains of a larger hoard, datable to the very end of the Late Bronze Age (900-800 BCE). The hollow, open bracelet, with small upturned ends allowed the dating of the hoard. A thread wound up in the shape of a spiral went with it, as did a disc-shaped casting funnel, revealing several flows of metal. The archaeometrical and technological study of this strange piece of waste has shown it can be considered as the remaining scrap of the casting by the lost-wax process of a hollow object which was not necessarily the bracelet found with it.

 

Keywords

 

Bronze Age, Belgium, Hainaut, hoard, archaeometry, technology, experimental archaeology.

 

7/ La chaîne opératoire de la production de l’or : expérimentations autour du site de Samut (désert Oriental, Égypte)

 

Thomas Faucher 

 

Abstract

 

The mining district of Samut is explored by the French archaeological mission of the Eastern Desert (MAFDO) since 2013. In order to establish a Ptolemaic mining map, ores were refined during experimental sessions. Some samples coming from mines exploited during the Ptolemaic period (323 – 31 BC) have been processed during archaeological experimentations. The different steps of the production of gold have been recreated with the aim of creating some gold flakes as a final result. Analyses made both by SEM-EDX and LA-ICP-MS show a great homogeneity, both in major and trace elements. This offers a way to compare different mining districts and areas, and thus a necessary background data to study gold stock provenances.  

 

Keywords

 

Experimental archaeology, Egypt, gold mining, Ptolemies, elemental analyses.

 

8/ The missing link between New Kingdom chisels and chisel marks: from documentation to reproduction

 

Georges Verly, Frederik W. Rademakers, Athena Van der Perre & Erez Ben-Yosef 

 

Abstract

 

This paper brings together two approaches to the study of mining and quarrying in New Kingdom Egypt, and in particular the use of copper-based chisels for the cutting of rock faces. The first approach focuses on the investigation of chisels’ negatives, with two case studies (Dayr Abu Hunnis and Timna) that exemplify how detailed documentation of chisel marks may yield insights on exploitation techniques, as well as the broader organisation of mining operations. The second approach focuses on experimental archaeology, which here is presented by a preliminary report on experimental manufacturing and use of copper alloy mining tools. The experiments’ results provide a basis for discussing the specific teleology and production aspects of a New Kingdom mining chisel (specifically the one that has been used as a model for these trials), and the experience of using and maintaining such a tool on the copper-bearing sandstone of the ancient mining district of Timna. Preliminary observations concerning the use-wear of chisels (in relation to alloy selection, manufacturing and maintenance techniques), chisel-marks developed under different configurations and the functionality of associated tools are presented. These illustrate the many open questions concerning the use and maintenance of copper alloy tools in ancient Egyptian mines and quarries, and serve as a basis for further research.

 

Key words

 

Mining archaeology, experimental archaeology, Egypt, Timna, mining tools, mine and quarry documentation, archaeometallurgy, New Kingdom, ancient technology.

 

9/ Bronze casting artefacts from the Qubbet el-Hawa – Moulds, materials, and experimental methods 

 

Johannes Auenmüller, Georges Verly & Frederik W. Rademakers

 

Abstract

 

The Egyptian Museum of Bonn University (Germany) holds a unique collection of casting moulds that were discovered in 1969 in tomb 207 of the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis (Aswân/Egypt).  Notwithstanding questions about their deposition and function in a funerary context, they enable both Egyptologists and natural scientists to fully study Late Period solid bronze casting technology. The casting moulds portray all steps of the casting process as well as some failed casting attempts. Thanks to the employment of a wide range of state-of-the-art methods of material analysis in the course of an initial research project at Bonn, new light could be shed on the making and technology of the casting moulds as well as their material composition. In addition, some remarkable cases for the mending of bronze Osiris figures and fragments could be detected. Here, the first deliberations and results of a collaborative follow-up research project with EACOM are presented. The ongoing research is especially dedicated to the development of an experimental methodology to better understand the functionality of these casting moulds.

 

Keywords

 

Late Period bronze casting, Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis, lost wax technique, complete casting moulds, technical clay paste layers, materials research, Micro-Computed Tomography.

 

10/ Les creusets métallurgiques de l’Antiquité tardive à Bouto : une expérimentation autour de l’adaptation de l’objet et de son usage à la matière disponible

 

Florian Téreygeol & Loïc Mazou

 

Abstract

 

The crucible is an artefact at the interface of two pyro-technologies: ceramics and metallurgy. Within an analogical experimental approach, an interdisciplinary perspective is essential in defining its construction in light of its metallurgical use. Crucible sherds from the Bouto excavation in Egypt, dating to the end of the Roman period, reveal an uncommon shape and composition: a flat dish made of a mix of silt and dung. In this paper, we demonstrate through experimentation how metallurgists may make use of ceramic technology specific to architectural brick manufacture in the context of crucible production. This association shows the importance of local constraints to the re-invention of an ancient metallurgical process.

 

Keywords

 

Crucible, internal heating, dung, silt, adobe.