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Archaeometallurgy
Archaeometallurgy is the study of the past use and production of metals by humans. It is a sub-discipline of archaeology and archaeological science. Uses Archaeometallurgical study has many uses in both the chemical and anthropological fields. Analysis contributes valuable insights into many archaeological questions, from technological choice to social organisation. Any project concerned with the relationship that the human species has had to the metals known to us is an example of archaeometallurgical study. Methods There are various methodological approaches to archaeometallurgical studies. The same methods used in analytical chemistry may be used to analyze artifacts. Chemical analysis methods may include the analysis of mass, density or chemical composition. Most methods are non-destructive in nature, such as X-ray spectroscopy, or micro-destructive (requiring removal of only a tiny portion of the sample). Non-destructive methods can be used on more artefacts than destructive o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in front of oxygen (32.1% and 30.1%, respectively), forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. In its metallic state, iron is rare in the Earth's crust, limited mainly to deposition by meteorites. Iron ores, by contrast, are among the most abundant in the Earth's crust, although extracting usable metal from them requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching or higher, about higher than that required to smelt copper. Humans started to master that process in Eurasia during the 2nd millennium BCE and the use of iron tools and weapons began to displace copper alloys, in some regions, only around 1200 BCE. That event is considered the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
