Ulvöspinel-bearing iron slags of Hellenistic age from near the Rosen copper mine, Eastern Srednogorie, Bulgaria
Abstract
A mineralogical study of slag of the Hellenistic period from near Cape
Atia on the Black Sea coast between Burgas and Sozopol has shown that these are iron slags consisting mainly of ulvöspinel, titanowüstite, kirschsteinite, and kalsilite. The abundant presence of ulvöspinel in the slag and its high vanadium content, suggests that the iron ore employed contained magnetite mixed with titanite derived from the disintegration by weathering of the monzonites and syenites of the Rosen pluton. The dominance of kirschsteinite over fayalite in the slag, along with rounded grains of magnesiochromite and the presence of zirconium in the slag, suggests the ore was a locally-derived shelly beach sand.
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References
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Zhang L, Zhang L N, Wang M Y, Li G Q, and Sui Z T 2007, ‘Precipitation selectivity of perovskite phase from Ti-bearing blast furnace slag under dynamic oxidation conditions’, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 353, 2214–2220.
Bronk Ramsey C 2009, ‘Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates’, Radiocarbon 51(1), 337-360.
Chernykh E 1978, Gornoe delo i metallurgia v drevnieishei Bolgarii [Mining and metallurgy in ancient Bulgaria] (Sofia). In Russian.
Dimitrov S and Dimitrova E 1961, ‘Magmatizmut i vruzkata mu s orudyavanyata v oblasta yugoiztochno ot gr. Bourgas’ [Magmatism and its relation to the ore-mineralizations southeast of the town of Bourgas], Travaux sur la geologie de Bulgarie, serie de geochimie et des gites metaliferes et non-metaliferes 2, 9-57. In Bulgarian with abstracts in Russian and German.
Georgiev G 1978, Starata zhelezodobivna industrya v Bulgaria [The old iron industry in Bulgaria] (Sofia). In Bulgarian with summaries in English and French.
Georgiev S, von Quadt A, Heinrich C A, Peytcheva I and Marchev P 2012, ‘Time evolution of a rifted continental arc: integrated ID-TIMS and LA-ICPMS study of magmatic zircons from the Eastern Srednogorie, Bulgaria’, Lithos 154, 53-67.
Harkovska A, Stanisheva-Vassileva G and Dabovski C 1989, ‘The Rosen paleovolcano’, in G Stanisheva-Vassileva, S Strashimirov and Y Yanev (eds), Alpine magmatism and related metallogeny in Srednogorie and Eastern Rhodopes, Guidebook (Sofia: Carpatho-Balkan Geological Association, 14th Congress), 50-61.
Ige A and Rehren T 2003, ‘Black sand and iron stone: iron smelting in Modakeke, Ife, south western Nigeria’, Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies 23, 15-20.
Iles L and Martinon-Torres M 2009, ‘Pastoralist iron production on the Laikipia Plateau, Kenya: wider implications for archaeometallurgical
studies’, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 2314-2336.
Koniarov G 1953, Prinos kum istoriata na rudarstvoto i metalurgiata v Bulgaria [A contribution to the history of the ore-mining and metallurgy in Bulgaria] (Sofia). In Bulgarian with abstracts in Russian and German.
Kovachev V 1994, ‘Medni rudni nahodishta v Bulgaria i vuzmozhnostite za tyahnata eksploatatsya v drevnostta’ [Copper ore deposits in Bulgaria and opportunities for their mining in the antiquity], in H Todorova and P Popov (eds), Problems of the earliest metallurgy (Sofia; Proceedings of the University of Mining and Geology, 4), 90-119. In Bulgarian.
Millard, A R 2014, ‘Conventions for reporting radiocarbon determinations’, Radiocarbon 56(2), 555–559.
Morton G R and Wingrove J 1969, ‘Constitution of bloomery slags: Part I: Roman’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 207, 1556-1564.
Morton G R and Wingrove J 1972, ‘Constitution of bloomery slags: Part II: Medieval’, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 210, 478-488.
Petrova A, Mihailova L and Vasileva V 1994, Explanatory note to geological map of Bulgaria scale 1:100 000, sheet Pomorie (Sofia).
Pouchou J-L and Pichoir F 1991, ‘Quantitative analysis of homogeneous or stratified microvolumes applying the model PAP’, in K F J Heinrich and D E Newbury (eds), Electron Probe Quantitation (New York), 31-75.
Raichevski S 1986, ‘Toponomichni svidetelstva za rudodobiva i metalodobiva v Strandzha prez antichnostta i srednovekovieto’ [Toponomic evidences for the ore-mining and metal-production in Strandzha during the antiquity and the Middle Ages], in Strandzha-Sakar Symposium, vol 4, book 6, 317-325. In Bulgarian.
Rehren T, Charlton M, Chirikure S, Humphris J, Ige A and Veldhuijzen H A 2007, ‘Decisions set in slag: the human factor in African iron smelting’, in S La Niece, D Hook and P Craddock (eds), Metals and mines: studies in archaeometallurgy (London), 211-218.
Rigby G R and Richardson H M 1947-49, ‘The occurrence of artificial kalsilite and allied potasium aluminium silicates in blast-furnace linings’, Mineralogical Magazine 28, 75-89.
Sharp W E and Mittwede S K 2011, ‘Late-medieval plagioclase-titanaugite-bearing iron slags from the Yapraklı area (Çankırı), Turkey’, Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences 20, 321-335.
Sharp W E and Mittwede S K 2012, ‘Medieval kirschsteinite-bearing iron slags of the Develi-Yahyalı area (Kayseri), Turkey’, in M A T M Broekmans (ed), Proceedings 10th International Congress for Applied Mineralogy (ICAM) (Berlin), 649-656.
Wertime T A 1980, ‘The pyrotechnologic background’, in T A Wertime and J D Muhly (eds), The coming of the age of iron (New Haven, CT), 1–24.
Zhang L, Zhang L N, Wang M Y, Li G Q, and Sui Z T 2007, ‘Precipitation selectivity of perovskite phase from Ti-bearing blast furnace slag under dynamic oxidation conditions’, Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 353, 2214–2220.
How to Cite
Ulvöspinel-bearing iron slags of Hellenistic age from near the Rosen copper mine, Eastern Srednogorie, Bulgaria. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 50(1), 1-10. https://hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/58
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