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A selection of copper-alloy objects of Islamic origin from the collection of the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (National Archaeological Museum, MAN) in Madrid. These materials were selected because they are representative of the Islamic metalwork tradition related to the Pisa Griffin Project, and they can help build a comparative framework for our studies.The composition of the metals that the objects are made of was determined using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy

How can we incorporate into our educational system the emerging technologies, new processes and new habits of society to improve public motivation, implication, and satisfaction in urban decision-making processes? New technology implementations in the teaching field largely extend to all types of levels and educational frameworks. However, these innovations require approval validation and evaluation by the final users. The premise is that the technology used in Virtual Reality (VR), is familiar to the Architecture students, which preview to work on specific parameters and outcome, and on the contrary, citizens with a profile not related to the field get more excited and perceive the technology as a more efficient tool. To prove this, we use a quantitative method to evaluate the satisfaction of citizens related and not related to the Architecture field. Using an interactive visualization process in a real environment, we obtained adequate feedback that allowed the optimization of this type of experiment in future iterations. The results show that the degree of satisfaction when using an advanced visualization technology was satisfactory with a differentiation between user’s profiles, Peer Reviewed, Preprint

The objective of this study is to provide insight into the origin of the lead present in the 10th-century. AD Islamic city of Madinat al-Zahra, both as unalloyed metal and as a component of the copper-based alloys, as well as a first approach to technological details related to the production of these materials. Recycling lead is argued to be a common practice but, nonetheless, the lead isotope analysis suggests a single origin for all the lead at the site. Two main options are discussed as lead sources: mines in the Linares district (100 km east) or in Villanueva del Duque (75 km north). Other interesting features are the use of lead-tin solder and fire gilding on a copper–zinc alloy.

In the present work, we have studied two European rapier blades, dating back to the period ranging from the Late Renaissance to the Early Modern Age (about 17th to 18th century). In order to determine variation in quality and differences in technology, a study was undertaken with the purpose to observe variations in the blade microstructure (and consequently in the construction processes). The samples, which in the present case were expendable, have been investigated, preliminarily, through standard metallography and then by means of white beam and energy-selective neutron imaging. The comparison of the results, using the two techniques, turned out to be satisfactory, with a substantial quantitative agreement of the results obtained with the two techniques, and show the complementarity of the two methods. Metallography has been considered up to now the method of choice for metal material characterization. The correspondence between the two methods, as well as the non-invasive character of the neutron-based techniques and its possibility to obtain 3D reconstruction, candidate neutron imaging as an important and quantitatively reliable technique for metal characterization.

The production of iron in Biscay (Basque Country, Spain) has been a hallmark of this territory of the North of the Iberian Peninsula throughout its history. The Archaeology team of the Basque Country Mining Museum has spent 13 years, so far, studying the origins of this activity through the evidences left at the old pre-hydraulic iron production workshops known as mountainside ironworks (ferrerías de monte) or haizeolak. It has catalogued 170 archaeometallurgical sites of this type in Biscay, and the archeological excavation of some of them has led to the knowledge of the different stages of the production process that took place in these workshops. The team has also experimentally reproduced the work carried out in a mountainside ironworks from the High Middle Ages, and it has currently started the characterization process of this type of activity through the study of the collected materials.

Presentamos un estudio metalúrgico de las armas de época ibérica documentadas en el valle de altura de Jutia (Nerpio-Yeste, Albacete) integrado en el análisis de su contexto arqueológico y en nuestra investigación en curso de las formas de organización de los paisajes de montaña durante la Edad del Hierro. Los resultados obtenidos son especialmente válidos en el caso de un soliferreum, cuyo análisis metalográfico nos permite caracterizar la tecnología del proceso de producción, y en el de una moharra de lanza, cuyo análisis plantea argumentos sobre la compleja vida social y las acciones sociales diversas que potencialmente contienen los objetos depositados en contextos rituales y funerarios.

Se presentan nuevos análisis sobre la composición de metales de distintas cronologías pre-islámicas de yacimientos de Marruecos. La técnica empleada es la espectrometría por fluorescencia de rayos X (ED-XRF). Destaca el elevado número de objetos manufacturados en cobre sin alear, incluso en periodos más recientes, aunque también se detectan bronces y latones., We present a new set of elemental analysis from several pre-Islamic archaeological sites in Morocco, using non-destructive ED-XRF techniques. The main feature is the high number of objects made of unalloyed copper, even in recent periods when bronze alloy is usual. Some copper-tin and brass alloys have been detected.

Se presenta un avance en la identificación y caracterización mediante microscopía electrónica de barrido (MEB) y microanálisis por energía dispersiva de Rayos X (EDX) de las técnicas de dorado sobre metal de cuatro objetos procedentes del centro de la Península Ibérica, cuya cronología se sitúa entre los siglos V y I a.C., aportando nueva información sobre un espacio geográfico y cronológico habitualmente poco estudiado desde la arqueometría de metales.

(EN) Late Bronze Age copper plano-convex ingots from the Iberian Peninsula present some morphometrical characteristics (size and weight) that make them standing out among the contemporary patterns from the Western Mediterranean. On the basis of the study of the characteristics and elemental composition of these ingots, this article offers a possible explanation for this singularity, relating them with the local metallurgical technology and production, exchange patterns and the role of the Phoenician influence., (ES) Los lingotes de cobre de tipología plano-convexa del Bronce Final en la Península Ibérica presentan unas características morfométricas (pesos y medidas) que los distinguen de los patrones contemporáneos existentes en el Mediterráneo Oriental. Basándose en sus características y en los datos composicionales, se busca una explicación a esta singularidad, relacionándola con la tecnología y la producción metalúrgica peninsular, con los modelos de intercambio y el papel de la influencia fenicia.

[ES] Ampurias era una colonia griega fundada por los focenses en la primera mitad del siglo VI a.C. y que, a lo largo de los siglos, jugó un importante papel dentro de las dinámicas comerciales marítimas entre colonos e indígenas, contribuyendo de manera significativa al desarrollo de la cultura ibérica. En este yacimiento se han recogido varios restos arqueometalúrgicos, entre los cuales se ha seleccionado una serie de muestras que incluye algunas escorias, fragmentos de masas metálicas en bruto y de un lingote, un bebedero de molde y dos fragmentos de copelas. Con el objetivo de aclarar qué tipo de actividades metalúrgicas se estaban llevando a cabo en Ampurias, se ha efectuado un estudio analítico exhaustivo empleando varias técnicas de laboratorio, como la Espectrometría por Fluorescencia de Rayos X, la Microscopía Óptica y la Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido., [EN] Emporion was a Greek colony founded in the first half of the VI century B.C. by Phocian navigators. It played an important role in the maritime trade between settlers and natives during the following centuries and is a key site to understand the development of the Iberian Culture. This site has yielded abundant archaeometallurgical material from which a series of samples has been selected. The samples include some slags, fragments of raw metallic lumps and of an ingot, a cope mould and two fragments of cupels. In order to determine the metallurgical activities carried out at Ampurias, an exhaustive analytic study was performed employing different laboratory techniques, such as X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy.