Abstract
Experimental archaeometallurgy is part of experimental archaeology. It includes experiments on mining, the processing of ores, the methodology of roasting and smelting to the extraction and processing of metals by casting, alloying and patinating. It includes the replication of possible crafting techniques from the entire chaîne d’opératoire to better understand ancient metallurgical steps and processes. Because in many cases attempts to reconstruct these they have been influenced, adopted and restricted by models of modern industrial metallurgy. Therefore, experimental work, carried out as closely as possible to archaeological evidence, is necessary. It often leads to new ideas and knowledge about early metallurgical procedures.
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Hauptmann, A. (2020). Experimental Archaeometallurgy. In: Archaeometallurgy – Materials Science Aspects. Natural Science in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50367-3_10
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