Casting metals in limestone moulds
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Abstract
Stone moulds were in common use around the world from the inception of metallurgy until the recent past, and most were certainly used to cast metal directly. Some ancient moulds from the eastern Mediterranean are of limestone and moreover, do seem to have been subjected to heat. However, there has been continuing scepticism amongst metallurgists and metalsmiths that moulds of thermally unstable stone such as these could have received molten copper. The discovery of a Bronze Age ingot mould from Ras Ibn
Hani, Syria, which clearly had been used to cast copper oxhide ingots inspired further experimentation into this subject. The mould was described as being of limestone, and casting replications were performed using a special limestone from Gozo, Malta which is used in the construction of ovens. A small oxhide ingot of copper was cast quite successfully, and both mould and operatives survived!
The limestone was shown to be highly fossiliferous and of fairly pure calcium carbonate, very similar to that used for some of the ancient moulds examined from the British Museum’s collection and for the Ras Ibn Hani ingot mould, suggesting a long continuity of deliberate choice of this type of limestone through the central and eastern Mediterranean for tasks where heat-resistance was important. Thus bronze can be cast in a limestone mould. However it is suggested that it was only really feasible to cast large simple shapes in single moulds, where loss of surface detail and limited gas generation would not be catastrophic.
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