Iron, copper and tin at Baratti (Populonia): smelting processes and metal provenances

Abstract

If the role of Populonia-Baratti as one of the most important ironworking centres of Europe in the 1st millennium BC is well documented, information about non-ferrous metal production in the area is still very scanty. We therefore started a detailed research program on four main excavation sites in the Populonia-Baratti industrial zone (Poggio della Porcareccia, Casone, Campo VI and the Baratti beach deposit) with the aim of establishing the types and extent of metallurgical activities for non-ferrous metals (mainly copper and tin), as well as on the provenance of smelted ores in the Etruscan period (c7th-3rd century BC). From analysis of stratigraphic relationships, morphological, mineralogical, textural, and chemical features of metallurgical materials we obtained the following main results: • although remaining archeometallurgical evidence at Baratti-Populonia can largely be ascribed to iron production, the existence of an earlier (and partly coeval) copper metallurgy is also well documented, particularly in the Baratti beach deposit • two different types of copper slags, which could be related to different metallurgical steps, have been distinguished • the mineralogical and compositional features of slags from the sites investigated could provide indirect evidence of local bronze production (in agreement with archaeological data), by employment of tin-rich ores • analysis indicates that iron ores came was mainly from Elba and, to a lesser extent, from the Campiglia Marittima district, whereas Copper and tin are mostly derived from the latter area.

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