engleski

The last smelt with the single recipe: geochemical characterization of the bloomery iron production process at Virje - Volarski breg site

Remains of an early medieval iron production workshop were excavated at the Virje – Volarski breg site, located in the Podravina region (NW), a lowland area dominated by the alluvial plain of the Drava river. Current archaeological research has confirmed that iron ore processing has been present in this region in the 5th century (Virje- Sušine site), 7th century (Hlebine-Velike Hlebine site) and 8/9th century (Virje – Volarski breg and Sušine site). At the Virje-Volarski breg site several samples of iron ore were collected, analyzed and compared to ore samples from other iron production sites in the region as well as local bog iron ores collected as surface finds during an archaeological survey. Remains of four bloomery furnaces at the site had an in situ residue of iron production slag formed during the smelting process. Samples of different types of smelting slag (furnace slag, furnace bottom slag, tapped slag) were analyzed in order to define consistency or change in the smelting procedure during individual smelts. The aim of the study is also to define in what way and to what extent does the mineralogical and chemical composition of ores and smelting waste reflect the choice of resources and steps in the iron production procedures at the Virje – Volarski breg site. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was used to determine mineralogical composition of slag and bog iron ore samples. Detailed geochemical characterization of samples was performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS).

bloomery iron production ; smelting slag ; bog iron ore ; early medieval period ; archaeometallurgy of iron ; ICP -MS ; XRD

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