Preliminary archaeometallurgical studies on copper extraction from polymetallic ore sources in Meymand, south central Ir
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Preliminary archaeometallurgical studies on copper extraction from polymetallic ore sources in Meymand, south central Iranian desert Mohammadamin Emami 1,2 & Torsten Kowald 2 & Reinhard Trettin 2
Received: 9 July 2015 / Accepted: 21 February 2016 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Abstract The occurrences of polymetallic sulphide and arsenide deposits (Cu, Cu + Fe + As, Cu + Au + Fe, Cu + Zn) in Meymand, central Iran, make this region as one of the most important areas for studying the beginning of metallurgy on the Iranian plateau. This research focuses on preliminary studies of smelting slags used for metallurgical purposes in the Meymand area. The slags were studied using XRD, including the Rietveld refining measurement for determining the crystalline phase composition. Cluster analysis was calculated using a correlation matrix and euclidean distance in the XRD pattern. XRF analysis was used to determine the major, minor and trace elements compositions. Mineralogical-petrological phase interpretation was carried out by polarization microscopy. The main segregation consists of augite, fayalite, clinoferrosilite and different phases of copper sulphides. According to the thermodynamic stability field of minerals, copper was extracted at approximately 950–1100 °C from an oxide-sulphide ore mixture.
Keywords Archaeometallurgy . Ore petrology . Slag petrology . Mineralogy . Cluster analysis . Meymand
* Mohammadamin Emami [email protected]
1
Department of Conservation and Restoration, Art University of Esfahan, Esfahan, Iran
2
Department of Building Material Chemistry, University Siegen, Siegen, Germany
Introduction When archaeometallurgical discussion focuses on the origin of metallurgy, the Iranian plateau with its rich metallogenic zones has recently received much attention, considering recent discoveries of archaeological finds pertaining to metallurgical development (Hauptmann et al. 1989; Pigott 1999). Other regions with considerable copper metallogenic zones are the Caucasus, Central Asia and Afghanistan, where copper production began in the 7th millennium BC (Muhly 1999), less than a millennium after the earliest documented use of native copper in Çayönü Tepesi in Anatolia (Maddin et al. 1999; Roberts et al. 2009). The polymetallic mineral district of BMeymand^ is situated between three important ancient copper and iron districts called BSarcheshmeh^, BMeydook^ and BGol-e Gohar^ in the Kerman province, central Iran. This paper focuses on a recently explored archaeomet allurgical workshop in south-central Iranian desert, in Meymand area. This is a preliminary report on an ongoing project and no archaeological studies have been carried out yet on the site. This paper considers only the possible correlation of the mining area with the smelting residues which has been researched. The cave dwelling village of Meymand is built in the magmatite formations in the central-southern part of Iran, which is covered by a thick layer of tuff (Fig. 1). Its geographical coordination is 55
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