Copper-melting Crucibles from the Surface of Altyn-Depe, Turkmenistan (ca. 2500-2000 BC)

Paléorient, vol. 32.2, p. 157-174 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2006 Manuscrit reçu le 28 août 2005, accepté le 20 décembre 2006

COPPER-MELTING CRUCIBLES FROM THE SURFACE OF ALTYN-DEPE, TURKMENISTAN (CA 2500-2000 BC)

E. MASIOLI, D. ARTIOLI, P. BIANCHETTI, S. DI PILATO, G. GUIDA, S. SALVATORI,G. SIDOTI and M. VIDALE

Abstract : Ten crucible fragments collected at a single location on the surface of Altyn-Depe, most probably datable to the second halfof the 3rd millennium BC, have been studied and analysed by the means of different techniques. The research provides new informationon Middle Bronze Age (Namazga V) copper-based metallurgy at this important southern Turkmenian early urban site.

Résumé : À Altyn Tepe, dix fragments de creusets datant très probablement de la seconde moitié du IIIe millénaire BC ont été trouvés ensurface du site, groupés en un seul endroit. Leur analyse, par différentes techniques d’observation, apporte des informations nouvellessur la métallurgie à base de cuivre et de bronze de ce site proto-urbain du Turkménistan (Bronze Moyen, Namazga V).

Key-Words : Turkmenistan, Altyn-Depe, Middle Bronze age metallurgy, Crucibles.

Mots Clefs : Turkménistan, Altyn-Depe, Métallurgie de l’âge du Bronze moyen, Creusets.

COPPER AND LEAD-BASED METALLURGY AT ALTYN-DEPE IN THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE

The ancient metallurgy of Altyn-Depe (Turkmenistan)(fig. 1) has been studied or mentioned, as far as the Namazga Vperiod is concerned, by several scholars1. From the 4th to theearly 3rd millennium BC, in accordance with a general trendshared by the whole of South Asia from Mesopotamia to theIndus valley, the early urban centres of the Kopet Dagh pied-mont gradually gave up pure copper and leaded copper, andwidely adopted copper-arsenic-lead alloys (although the inten-tional adding of arsenic to copper is still matter of dispute).

Copper-tin binary bronzes remained very rare until the last cen-turies of the 3rd millennium BC, when their use suddenlybecame rather common2. In the second half of the3rd millennium BC, at Altyn-Depe both lead and copper sul-phides might have been smelted, at least in small amounts, inthe settlement (as revealed by some slag and fragments ofmetallic ores). Galena ore pieces, lead and litharge “ingots” orpieces of plano-concave castings found on the metallurgicalareas suggest the lead and/or silver refining processes ; thesame craft indicators were found in large numbers on the sur-face of the Middle Chalcolithic site of Ilgynly-Depe, about3,800-3,200 BC, about 10 km south of Altyn-Depe.

Chemical analyses carried out on finished products by var-ious scholars and on different occasions revealed a meaning-ful picture. Tools such as chisels and points, but also

1. Among which : MASSON, 1988 ; EGOR’KOV, 2001 ; KIRCHO, 1994,2001 ; MASIMOV, 1988 ; SALVATORI et al., 2002 ; TEREKHOVA, 1981, 2001 ;CHERNYK, 1992 ; MASIOLI, 2003. 2. BERTHOUD et al., 1982.

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158 E. MASIOLI, D. ARTIOLI, P. BIANCHETTI, S. DI PILATO, G. GUIDA, S. SALVATORI, G. SIDOTI and M. VIDALE

Paléorient, vol. 32.2, p. 157-174 © CNRS ÉDITIONS 2006

ornaments, were produced with a variety of alloys, includingleaded copper, copper-lead-arsenic ternary alloys, pure cop-per or binary copper-arsenic bronze. Vessels, in contrast,seem to have been generally made with almost pure copper,while the intricacies of stamp seals were made possible bycopper alloys having a very high lead content, in some casesup to 40 % (however, about one-fourth of the analysed sealsturned out to be pure copper). Pins with elaborate zoomorphicheads, in contrast, in most cases turned out to be arsenicalbronzes. Tin bronzes were identified by Russian laboratoriesas the alloy used for casting a few knives, sickle blades, bar-like objects and chisels. X-ray fluorescence tests performed inRome3 revealed peaks of tin in copper slag, prills and in acluster of furnace linings collected on the surface of the “Cop-per Mound” (fig. 2). At present there are few instances of tinbronzes used for making ornaments, and this suggests thatalong the Kopet Dagh piedmont tin alloys were originallyadopted for tools rather than ornamentation. Among the largenumber of objects analysed by Russian scholars, there areonly a few ornaments in silver ; binary alloys such as copperand silver or silver and gold are also reported. In this light, thehighly developed metallurgy of Namazga V, at least to some

extent, purposefully used different alloys for casting distinc-tive types of metal commodities. On the other hand, the tech-nical repertoire was largely inherited from a metallurgicalknowledge already fully developed 1,000 years earlier. Infact, the metallurgy of the Namazga II period (ca 3,800-3,200 BC) already included such techniques as lost-wax cast-ing, pouring in complex and simple moulds, hot forging andextensive annealing, forming by sinking and rising, sheetmanufacturing and decorative punching with dot marks. Theonly technique that, at present, seems to be a Middle Bronzeage innovation is the mechanical joining of sheet-formedsculptures, in ancient Greek sphyrelata (ongoing research bythe present authors).

According to the traditional Soviet views, the middleBronze age town of Altyn-Depe – following one of the mostrevered paradigms of early urban formation process – was sub-divided in well distinguished if not separated craft quarters,metallurgists being restricted in a small southern island knownas the “Copper Mound”4 (fig. 2). Nonetheless, subsequentexcavations revealed that the extensive dumping of tiny copperprocessing residues on the “Copper Mound” was the result ofan ephemeral late occupation, and not of a firmly established

Fig. 1 : Map of southern Turkmenistan with the location of Altyn-Depe.

3. SALVATORI et al., 2002. 4. MASSON, 1988 ; TOSI, 1984.

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Copper-melting crucibles from the surface of Altyn-Depe, Turkmenistan (ca 2500-2000 BC) 159


Fig. 2 : Altyn-Depe. Topographic map of the site with the location of the craft activity areas detected on surface.The crucible fragments discussed in this paper were found on the spot labelled as AS 7.


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metallurgical craft quarter that produced copper goods for along period of time. Moreover, new surface surveys revealedother clusters of copper-related slag, prills and furnace liningfragments in other parts of the ancient town5. On the whole, atpresent it seems more likely that several metallurgical units or“craft corners” could have been working in different areas ofthe Middle Bronze Age city of Altyn-Depe, following anunknown pattern of shifting allocation. The present evidence,in short, suggests that the traditional reconstruction of craft spa-tial patterning at Altyn-Depe requires a serious revision.

In this paper, we discuss in detail a group of 10 fragments ofcrucibles and copper slag found in 1998 in a single surface loca-tion near the north-western edge of the upper plateau, quite farfrom the “Copper Mound” (fig. 3 and 4). Following the number-ing of the craft activity areas so far detected on surface (fig. 2)the new site was labelled AS 76. The objects were collected inan area of about 10 × 15 m, and this qualifies the assemblage as

a loose but homogeneous cluster. On the basis of the overallurban stratigraphic growth and the ceramics associated on sur-face, the crucibles studied in this paper can be ascribed to a latephase of the Middle Bronze Age or Namazga V times, approxi-mately to the last centuries of the 3rd millennium BC7.

5. KIRCHO et al., n.d.6. Many thanks are due to C. Putzolu, G. Bonora and L. Kircho, who

found the crucible fragments during a short surface survey at Altyn-Depe, inAutumn 1998.

Fig. 3 : Altyn-Depe. Some of the crucible fragments from AS 7studied in this paper. Upper left, slag fragment 10-36 ; upper right,8, interior surface ; lower left, 10-2, interior surface ; lower right,13-2, interior surface, with slag crust and copper prills near the rim.

Fig. 4 : Altyn-Depe. Crucible fragments 10-1, 13-1, 13-2, 10-2, 8 (from top) as drafted according to current archaeological standards.

7. KOHL, 1981, 1984 ; MASSON, 1988.


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CRUCIBLES IN DETAIL

Chalcolithic and Bronze Age crucibles in Central Asia,Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have rarely been studied indetail, although these specialised vessels may represent impor-tant cases of technical interaction between ceramics and metal-working cycles. In most cases, excavation reports mention thefind of isolated crucible fragments as generic evidence of thelocal performance of copper processing activities, and littlemore. Of the several hundreds crucible fragments “showingcopper stain and dross” recovered at Tal-i-Iblis, in the Bard SirValley (Kerman province), from Levels 1 and 28 only one hasbeen analysed9. Though it is hard to draw conclusive state-ments from a single analysis, it is worth mentioning that :

“[…] the ceramic of the crucible shard was poorly fired. Theinner surface […] was covered with partially vitrified materialthat had the appearance of dross or slag. The tan-salmon colourof the outer surface, together with flaky composition of the cera-mic, indicates that the maximum temperature obtained duringthe firing process was probably below 1,000 °C – possibly from700 °C to 800 °C. These temperatures are sufficient for thereduction of copper ore, but they are well below the meltingpoint of the metal (1,083 °C)”10.In the excavation of the Chalcolithic copper smelting

workshop at Tepe Ghabristan (south-west of the Caspian Sea,in Iran) only one slagged crucible has been found11. It wasthought to have been used to smelt malachite. Nothing isadded to the topic by the mention of the fourteen crucibles(1 complete and 13 fragmentary) found in sector MR.2H atMehrgarh (Pakistan), datable to the 5th millennium BC12.Later – Early Bronze Age – evidence comes from Shahr-iSokhta (Seistan, Eastern Iran), where several rather small cru-cible fragments from Period II contexts have been found andstudied13. Restitution of the original shape of the Shahr-iSokhta crucibles was impossible due to the small size of thefragments, and a vitrification or slagging process has beennoticed only in the interior surfaces.

Miller’s study of pyrotechnology in the Indus Valley civili-sation14 include a short discussion of crucibles and ceramicwalls with copper traces. Indus crucibles appear to have beenabundantly tempered with chopped straw, they are vitrified on

both the exterior and interior surfaces, and bear orange-redglaze-like coatings and green copper stains and prills. In herreview, in spite of a basic uncertainty in the criteria of identifi-cation, she defines two classes of potential crucibles. Largerspecimens, with an inner mouth diameter ranging from 23 to34 cm, were interpreted as melting crucibles, i.e., large contain-ers for melting copper scrap and ingot fragments into secondaryingots, or possibly to cast large objects. A smaller group, 5 to12 cm at the mouth (inner diameter), might have included pour-ing crucibles. Although in both cases the vessels might havehad an upper convex shape, the fragments appeared too smallto provide a reliable reconstruction of the overall profile.

Eight crucibles found in the workshop quarter at Shahdad(Kerman, Iran), contemporaneous with the specimens fromAltyn-Depe, might be compared to Miller’s second sizegroup15. Because of the reduced size and thickness of thewalls (less than 2 cm), the lack of outer vitrification, and thepresence (at least in four cases) of a small pouring spout, thesecup-shaped crucibles16 might have been best suited for melt-ing than for smelting17. Unfortunately the analyses suppos-edly carried out at an unspecified laboratory of the TehranUniversity18 have never been published. This is even moreregrettable as “[…] elsewhere in Southwest Asia in terms ofin situ workshop evidence few sites rival what was excavatedat Shahdad”19. Finally, in the case of the roughly contempo-rary Oxus Civilisation, in spite of the exceptionally largenumber of metal objects found in settlements and cemeteriesin Margiana and Bactria, crucible fragments are mentionedonly as surface finds20, and no description or analysis hasbeen provided so far.

The crucible fragments from the surface of Altyn-Depemight start to fill a gap in our understanding of the local met-allurgy in the last centuries of the 3rd millennium BC. Previ-ous information on the find of two other crucible fragments inthe protohistoric town was provided only by Egor’kov21.While the objects were not published, and the shape of thevessels is unknown, the fragments were internally slagged.For one specimen quantitative analysis of the vitrified interiorshowed the presence of almost pure copper, while in thesecond the copper alloy seems to have consisted of about

8. CALDWELL, 1967 : 34.9. DOUGHERTY and CALDWELL, 1967.10. Ibid. : 19.11. MADJIDZADEH, 1979.12. JARRIGE, 1995 : 72.13. HAUPTMANN et al., 2003.14. MILLER, 1999.

15. BAIANI, 1979-1980 ; HAKEMI, 1992, 1997.16. BAIANI, 1979-1980 : fig. 14 ; HAKEMI, 1992 : fig. 15.15 : 1, 2.17. PIGOTT, 1999 : 117.18. BAIANI, 1979-1980 : 88.19. PIGOTT, 1999 : 118.20. HIEBERT and KILLICK, 1993 : 199.21. EGOR’KOV, 2001.


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45 % lead (but note that if this crucible was used for pouringthe alloy into a mould, the detected high percentage of leadmight be explained with an involuntary process of gravimetricsegregation).

The main interest of the new find lies in the higher numberof clustered fragments, allowing us to present reconstructionand hypotheses well beyond the potential of more commonisolated sherds. Five of the crucible fragments from the newlyfound activity area, in fact, allow a hypothetical reconstruc-tion of the shape and size of the crucibles (fig. 3, 4 and 5).

METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

Besides archaeological study, samples were investigatedby the means of thin section petrographic analysis, X-ray radi-ography, X-ray diffraction (XRD, 40 Kv, 30 µA, 5-60), andqualitative X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF, 40 Kv,0.2-0.3 mA, Si-PIN detector) ; more information was soughtby the means of infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ionic chroma-tography (IC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA, heatingrate 20 °C/m, atmosphere nitrogen 100 cc/m). Initially, after asuperficial brushing of the soil, the samples were not cleanedwith de-ionised water or other media, and thus they retainedsecondary absorbed components from the surrounding sedi-ments (as discussed below, part of the samples were washedin a second assay, for a better assessment of the results ofTGA).

The above analytical techniques and viewpoints, ratherthan focusing and converging into a unified material charac-terisation of a finished product, turned out to be relevant forthe archaeological reconstruction of individual steps in thecycle of transformation of the artefacts. The manufacturingprocess was reconstructed by the means of a detailed visualinspection, X-ray radiography and petrographic thin sections ;the actual metallurgical use according to XRD and EDXRFand secondarily by X-ray radiography analyses, and substan-tial post-depositional changes mainly through FT-IR, IC andTGA. On the whole, and once more, this example shows howanalytical evidence cannot be carried out without a carefulassessment of the processual history of the studied artefacts,stretching from the original techniques of preparation of rawmaterials to the use and the final effects of taphonomicprocesses.

DESCRIPTION (fig. 3-5)

The crucible pieces include three mouth fragments (fig. 4 :1-3), one lower wall fragment with the corner point of thebase (fig. 4 : 4), 1 lower wall fragment proximal to the jointwith the base (fig. 4 : 5), and three indeterminable wall frag-ments of variable size. Two more specimens are fragments ofa slag crust rich in copper, most probably detached from theinterior surface of one or more crucibles (as confirmed byEDXRF data). With the exception of 13-1 (fig. 4 : 2) allpieces retain an inner greenish glassy surface, sometimesincluding copper droplets or larger copper spheres or prills.The specimens may be briefly described as follows.

10-1 (fig. 4 : 1). Rim fragment of a truncated cone to hemi-spherical shaped bowl, with an inner copper-bearing encrusta-tion. Mouth diameter ranges around 15-16 cm. The wall has amaximum thickness of 1.60 cm. The rim is simple, fromrounded to slightly flattened, sloping outwards. The manufac-ture is rough, and the shape is very irregular. The pottery ishighly porous and imprints of chopped grass or straw particles(leaves, stems and possibly one cereal seed) are clearly recog-nisable in the fractures as well as on the inner and outer sur-faces. The colour of the outer surface is pale yellow (2.5Y 8/2),and light brownish grey, 2.5Y 8/2, on the interior. The copper-slagged portion on the interior, about 3 mm thick, is very darkgrey, 2.5Y 3/0. The firing is relatively uniform, incompletelyoxidised, and more reduced in the interior than on the exteriorsurfaces.

13-1 (fig. 4 : 2). Rim fragment of a truncated cone shapedbowl, with a slightly convex upper profile. Mouth diameterranges around 12 cm. The rim is simple, with a horizontal flatsurface. The wall is relatively thin, and the vessel seems tohave made with a greater care than the former specimen. Thewall has a maximum thickness of 1.48 cm. The pottery isporous, with diffuse voids left by fine-chopped vegetal parti-cles, visible mainly in fracture. On the outer surface one sees adouble superimposed thin layer of a reddish slip, with a finerselected matrix and very small vegetal particles. The inner sur-face, different from the other specimens, has no greenish slagcrust ; it appears coarse, irregular and richer in vegetal parti-cles. The colour of the outer slip (about 0.1 cm thick) is pink(5YR 7/3). The core, strongly reduced, is grey (7.5YR 5/0).The inner surface, where reduction effects in general arestronger, varies from light brownish grey (10YR 6/2), tobrownish-yellowish oxidised patches (10YR 6/6).


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13-2 (fig. 4 : 3 ; see also fig. 3, lower right). Rim fragmentof a truncated-cone shaped bowl. On the inner surface, belowthe rim, one sees a large copper drop and immediately belowa slag crust extending to the lower fracture’s margin. Therim’s shape varies from pointed to flat. The maximum pre-served thickness is 1.28 cm ; the copper slag deposit with thedrop is about 0.8 cm thick. The diameter at the mouth isaround 13 cm. The body is highly porous, with fine vegetalparticles recognisable both on surface and in fractures. Theproduction is relatively careless. The colour is relatively uni-form (light brownish grey [10YR 6/2]) and points to a gener-ally reduced atmosphere, even if on the lower fracture (verypale brown [10YR 7/4]) the piece seems slightly oxidised.

10-2 (fig. 4 : 4 ; see also fig. 3, lower left). Lower wallfragment of a relatively thick vessel with the corner point ofthe base. The inner surface has a continuous layer of copper-bearing glaze with small broken bubbles (about 0.29 cmthick). The base diameter might be reconstructed around7 cm. The body is highly porous, with coarse vegetal choppedparticles (leaves, stems, perhaps one seed) recognisable bothon surface and in fractures. General firing conditions arereduced, more on the interior (light grey [10YR 7/1]) than onthe exterior, from white (10YR 8/2) to light grey (10YR 7/1).

8 (fig. 4 : 5 ; see also fig. 3, upper right). Lower wall frag-ment proximal to the joint with the base (maximum thickness1.63 cm). It belongs to a relatively sturdy, well constructedvessel. The base diameter, judging from the reconstructedhorizontal arc near the joint with the base itself, should waveraround 9-10 cm. As in the other cases, the high porosity of theceramic body is afforded by a strong component of fine-chopped vegetal particles, visible both on the outer surfaceand in the fractures. On the outer surface are visible patchesof a reddish slip that originally coated the whole exterior sur-face (reddish yellow [5YR 6/6]). The slip is applied over aless oxidised surface (pinkish white [7.5YR 8/2]). While theinner surface is completely covered by an opaque copper-bearing glaze, the fractures show a strongly reduced core(light brownish grey [10YR 6/2]) ; the reduction gets strongertowards the bottom of the vessel. On the fluid greenish glaze,heavier pellets or droplets of copper seem to have been col-lected towards the bottom of the vessel. On the exterior bodybelow the slag, the colour is very pale brown (10YR 8/3).There are residual patches of an external reddish yellow slip(5YR 6/6).

10-3. Wall fragment, probably proximal to the base,incompletely preserved on the outer surface (maximum thick-ness 1.06 cm). The vegetal temper is the same as the above

described fragments, with a least one large fragment of anelongated leaf. The interior surface is partially covered by agreenish opaque glaze (0.17 cm) ; the core is reduced (lightgrey [2.5Y 7/2]) while the outermost preserved part of thewall is whitish or pale yellow (2.5Y 8/4).

13-3. Three small fragments of copper slag-like encrusta-tion detached from the inner surface of one or more crucibles.The inner surface retains traces of a reduced ceramic wall(pale olive [5Y 6/3]).

10-36 (fig. 3, upper left). A large fragment of an opaque cop-per slag encrustation detached from the inner surface of a cruci-ble. The inner surface is irregular, with small breast-likeformations ; the rear is studded with little broken bubbles, andretains patches of a reduced ceramic wall (pale yellow [5Y 7/3])with the usual vegetal temper.

TS 1, TS 2. Two small fragments of crucible walls withinner slagged surface apparently rich in copper, bearing iso-lated copper prills.

FORMS AND CAPACITY

Three rims and two base fragments (fig. 4 and 5) werecarefully considered for a hypothetical normative reconstruc-tion of the original form and size of the crucibles. The shapesreconstructed in figure 5 combine in the most likely and sim-ple possible body contours, the partial profiles of the availablemouth and base fragments. Most probably, all crucibles werethick-walled truncated cone shaped bowls, more or less con-cave in the upper profile. One of the crucibles (fig. 5 : 1)appears to have been an almost hemispherical bowl, whileanother (fig. 5 : 3) would appear truncated cone shaped ; theothers might have fallen somehow in between. Mouth diame-ters vary between 10 and 16 cm (pouring crucibles ?), and if,as one might imagine, the original height varied with themouth and bases, we might have a maximum capacity varyingbetween a minimum of about 1,300 and 3,300 cubic cm.Although the shapes reconstructed in figure 5 are partiallyconjectural, we believe they are not very far from the origi-nals. Among the cluster of fragments collected on surfacethere is no positive evidence of spouts, such as those encoun-tered in some of the crucibles from Shahdad, but this does notimply that our crucibles had none.


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MANUFACTURING PROCESS : RAW MATERIALS

How were the crucibles manufactured ? In terms of rawmaterials, XRD patterns mainly show secondary, high-temperature phases of the ceramics (see below). This evi-dence, therefore, is related to the sphere of use rather than tomanufacture. Some information on the type of ceramic mix-ture used by the coppersmiths of Altyn-Depe may be betterinferred from thin sections (specimens TS 1 and 13-1 ; fig. 6-9). In both wall fragments, besides a fine silty-clayey matrix,the temper is formed by very fine quartz grains (fig. 6 and 7).The maximum diameter of quartz particles ranges around80 µm. The grains sometimes have an elongated form, withinner microscopic fractures (fig. 7), and as a rule they havesharp contours and angular edges (fig. 6). Besides quartz, thinsections of both specimens show a secondary content of feld-spars. In both samples crystalline calcite is completely absent,although the presence of high temperature calcium-alumin-ium silicates in the ceramic bodies detected by XRD as wellas EDXRF and FT-IR patterns (see below) show that theemployed clays definitely had a minor calcareous component.Thin sections, in fact, suggest that the quartz temper for theclay was obtained by mechanically crushing and fine-powder-ing pebbles or fragments of a quartzose rock, rather than col-lecting and reworking a natural sediment rich in sand.

Fig. 5 : Altyn-Depe. Conjectural normative reconstruction of the original forms after crucible fragments 10-1, 13-1, 13-2, 10-2, 8.

Fig. 6 : Altyn-Depe. Thin section of crucible fragment 13-1 showingfinely crushed angular quartz particles and feldspars embedded in asilty-clayey matrix (125 ×, crossed polars).


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The inner surface of sample TS 1, as stated above, wascovered by a slag-like greenish formation with residues ofcopper and other metals (see below). Such a layer is formedby a glassy phase above a continuous layer of bubbles at theinterface between the ceramic body and the slagged surface,and minor bubbles seem to gradually spread and dissolve inthe interior of the wall. Bubbles formed when the gasesformed by the combustion of the organic particles and theinner moisture migrated to surface. Among the bubbles andwithin the glassy phase, one also sees acicular or needle-likecrystals, newly formed at high temperature, arranged in radi-ating star-like patterns (fig. 8), probably formed by feldspars.The other visible component is organic (most likely choppedchaff), as demonstrated by the elongated pores left by thecombustion of these temper particles. The pores are generallychaotic, but locally there may be some parallel orientation(fig. 9). Only in rare instances was the burned material pre-served in the pores and, in at least some cases, we observedcylinder-like vegetal particles with inner channels. In trans-versal section, the pores may assume an “8”-shaped form, apattern that in silty casting cores employing fibres of animalorigin may be created by the combustion and the explosion ofthe temper hairs.

Looking at the sections, and considering empirically therelative rate of pores, quartz particles and silicatic matrix inthe sectioned surfaces, we may preliminarily suppose thatthe “recipe” for making clay for crucibles prescribed about1/3 silty clay, 1/3 finely ground quartzite or other metamor-phic rock, and 1/3 chopped straw (by volume). The outer

layer of slip visible on at least two fragments might havebeen simply obtained by mixing the same clayey matrix withwater and recollecting after some time the suspended finerfractions.

Fig. 7 : Altyn-Depe. Thin section of crucible fragment TS 1 showinga grain of polycrystalline quartz with micro-fractures in a silty-clayey matrix (125 ×, crossed polars).

Fig. 8 : Altyn-Depe. Thin section of crucible fragment TS 1. Theneedle-like radiating crystals visible among the gas bubbles in theslagged surface are identified as trydimite (125 ×, crossed polars).

Fig. 9 : Altyn-Depe. Thin section of fragment TS 1 showingelongated organic fibres in various states of alteration (125 x, planepolars). Spheroid features belong to the epoxy support.


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MANUFACTURING PROCESS : FORMING AND FINISHING

As has since long been established, the inner structure of aceramic body may be observed by the means of X-ray radiog-raphy22. This is particularly true of porous, heavily straw-tem-pered fabrics, where the temper severely reduces the plasticityof the clayey matrix, and where the orientation of the innerpores is a direct function of the specific vessel forming tech-niques. Sherds were X-rayed both from the interior or exteriorsurfaces and the fractures, in order to investigate structuraldetails relevant to the reconstruction of their manufacturingtechniques. Information thus gathered was matched with adirect observation of pore distribution on fracture surfaces.The images were later re-drafted enhancing the porosity pat-terns and inner discontinuities in the crucible walls (fig. 10).Four sherds showed inner features relevant to the reconstruc-tion of the forming process : in order of resolution, 13-1, 10-1, 13-2, 8. The upper part of 13-1, a non-slagged crucible withhigh arsenic peaks (see below), was made with a sequence of4 coils about 1.20 cm high (measured in the middle). Theupper surface of the coils is rounded, with a slight asymmetricprojection towards the interior ; the base is concave. Theexternal surface is smoothed by smearing with a thin, contin-uous layer of fine clay. Mouth fragments 10-1 and 13-2 arevery similar. The coils of the former are higher (about 1.7 and2.4 cm), perhaps as a consequence of the increased thicknessof the wall. The coils of the latter have the same size of 13-1.In base fragment 8, coils underwent a stronger modification,having being pressed and elongated downward on the exte-rior, and correspondingly pressed and pushed upwards on theinterior. The structure of the base needed a more effectivejoining of the coils, while the upper part of the vessels wasmade by the means of a simpler process of superposition. Inthe four sherds, the forming technique is most probably thesame. The co-occurrence of both chaotic and parallel-orientedpore clusters (see above, thin sections) in this light is easilyexplained, because the core of the coils is commonly chaotic,but parallel structures may develop at the coils’ original sur-faces and at the joint interfaces.

After forming and drying, part of the vessels thus pro-duced were coated (by smearing or immersion) with a slipthat, after firing, assumed a bright red-orange colour. Patches

of this slip, in fact, were still well preserved on crucible frag-ments 8 and 13-1. This suggests that before their metallurgicaluse, some of the crucibles were carefully smoothed with thisfinal application and fired in strongly oxidising conditions,thus reducing the vessels’ porosity. It is not clear if such acoating was applied more than once, nor if it was required ona limited set of crucibles by a particular technical operation.

The manufacturing process of these crucibles, on thewhole, appears rather complex and labour-demanding. Onewonders whether such vessels were manufactured by the cop-persmiths themselves, or – perhaps more likely – if they wereobtained from specialised professional potters.

USE AND POST-DEPOSITIONAL CHANGES

Some generic evidence on the firing conditions may beprovided by the chromatic variability of the crucible frag-ments. Table 1 compares the Munsell chart values for the inte-rior and exterior surfaces of eight specimens (in samples 13-3and 10-36 no portion of the outer surface is preserved ; in 8 to10-36, the colour of the inner surface refers to the ceramicbody below the slagged inner surface, and thus in strict termscould not be compared to the first four samples). Although

22. Among others CARR, 1990 ; CARR and RIDDICK, 1990 ; VANDIVER

et al., 1991 ; MEDURI et al., 1993.

Fig. 10 : Altyn-Depe. Graphic enhancement of the porosity patternsdetected by X-raying specimens 13-1, 10-1, 13-2, 8. Distribution andshape of the pores reveal the shapes of the coils applied while hand-forming the crucibles.


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partial, colour evidence suggests that the crucibles were usedin partially oxidising atmospheres such as for example thatprovided by a small to medium-sized oven or furnace with afront opening and (most probably) an upper escape for air cir-culation. In 13-1, the core is more reduced than the surfaces,thus suggesting a final exposure of the wall to increasinglyoxidised conditions.

The fact that the interior is generally reduced (beside orbelow the slagged surfaces) is compatible with the possibleuse of bellows blowing forced air from above into the vessel’smouth, where charcoal and chunks of copper and other metalsor alloys were to be melted (or re-melted). As remarked byMiller :

“Heating from the top makes it possible to use crucibles madefrom materials which were not strong enough to withstand theheat and weight stresses involved with bottom-heated cruci-bles.”23

No fragment of a tuyère has been found during the sur-veys, nor have any been reported so far by previous excava-tors. At any rate, surface slagging in the Altyn-Depe cruciblesis strictly limited to the interior surfaces, and it much lessintensive than in the crucibles found at Mohenjo-Daro andHarappa discussed by Miller, which points to a quite differentsmelting or melting/casting technology.

We wondered if it was possible to understand more of thefiring/heating techniques considering the potential effects ofdifferent degrees of heat exposure at various points of the cru-

cible walls. In order to test this hypothesis, we sampled thewalls of 13-1, respectively on the exterior surface, in the innercore, and on the interior. Sample 13-1 (rich in arsenic, seebelow) had no slag crust in the interior (see description above)while in sample TS 1 the interior surface was the inner cop-per-bearing slagged surface. The XRD patterns of 13-1 and10-2 (table 2) thus ideally provide two cross-sections of thevessels’ walls.

In general, the mineral phases identified by XRD arequartz (SiO2) ; anorthitic feldspars or anorthite (calcium alu-minium silicate, CaAl2Si208) ; wollastonite (found in a singleslag sample) (calcium silicate, CaSiO3) ; diopside (calciummagnesium silicate, CaMg(SiO3)2) ; atacamite (copper chlo-ride hydroxide, Cu3Cl(OH)3) ; gypsum (calcium sulphatehydrate, CaSO42H20). Diopside and anorthitic feldspars areobvious high-temperature transformations of the silty-claymatrix components used for the original crucibles (see alsofig. 8). Alkaline components and salts naturally present in theclays might have enhanced this process and its results. Highpeaks of quartz and diopside are commonly encountered inceramics fired at relatively high temperatures (around 850-950 °C) of eastern Iran and the Turanian basin, such as, forexample, the well-fired buff wares of Shahr-i Sokhta24. Com-monly smelted copper-bearing minerals are absent : atacamiteis one of the most common alteration products of copper com-pounds, particularly in saline microenvironments. Traces of

Table 1 : Crucible fragments from AS 7. Munsell values for the interior and exterior surfaces of 8 specimens.In general, exterior surfaces are slightly more oxidised.

Interior Exterior

10-1 light brownish grey (2.5Y 6/2) light grey (2.5Y 7/2) to pale yellow (2.5Y 8/4).

13-1light brownish grey (10YR 6/2) with brownish-yellowish oxidized patches (10YR 6/6)

pink (7.5YR 7/4) to pinkish grey (7.5YR 6/2). The slip is pink (5YR 7/3)

13-2 light brownish grey (10YR 6/2) light brownish grey (10YR 6/2)

10-2 light grey (10YR 7/1) from white (10YR 8/2) to light grey (10YR 7/1)

8 light brownish grey (10YR 6/2) (core under the slagged surface)very pale brown (10YR 8/3). The slip is reddish yellow (5YR 6/6)

10-3light brownish grey (2.5Y 6/2)(core under the slagged surface)

whitish to pale yellow (2.5Y 8/4)

13-3pale olive (5Y 6/3)(core under the slagged surface)

nd

10-36pale yellow (5Y 7/3(core under the slagged surface)

nd

23. MILLER, 1999 : 260. 24. MUGAVERO and VIDALE, 2003 : 72


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gypsum absorbed from the soil were found, in two cases, to bemore abundant in the porous interior of the fragments than onthe surfaces. Invisible in thin section, calcite is also absent inthe XRD patterns.

The effort to analyse the specimens in cross-section fordetermining possible forms of interior/exterior wall variabil-ity was only partially rewarding. Crucible fragment 10-1turned out to be quite homogeneous from the exterior to theinterior. This feature suggests that firing conditions wererather uniform outside and inside the vessel. The relativelyhigh peaks of arsenic detected by EDXRF did not correspondto a crystalline phase detectable by the means of XRD. Gyp-sum turned out to be absorbed in the core but absent on bothsurfaces. On the other hand, crucible fragment TS 1 showed alower quartz peak and higher peaks of high-temperature sili-cates in the core and on the interior surface, somehow sup-porting the hypothesis of a heating and localised sinteringfrom top and from the interior. In this case, too, gypsumseems to have absorbed into the core and re-deposited in cor-respondence of an interface of decreasing porosity.

Qualitative EDXRF analysis (table 3) provided basicinformation on the type of processed alloys. Sample 13-1 isevidently anomalous, as arsenic and not copper seems tocause the highest reflections. As this element is not present ina crystalline form and the interior of this crucible does notshow a slag crust, we can ignore if, and to what extent, such

high values might have been caused by processing arsenic-rich ores or alloys, or if they were biased by post-depositionalprocesses (absorption from the surrounding soil ?). Thesequalitative EDXRF patterns may be contrasted with those wepreviously obtained for a group of vitrified furnace liningsstudded with copper droplets previously collected in an activ-ity area labelled AS 2 at the northern edge of the “CopperMound” (fig. 2 ; table 4)25.

In the cases of both crucibles and linings, we probably aredealing with secondary or sub-primary clusters that originatedwhile dumping the residues of one or more technical events,but somehow in the frame of two (loosely defined) contempo-rary metallurgical production units. The two sets are similaras far as the association of copper, lead, and to some extent tinis concerned ; arsenic, in contrast, is present in almost all thecrucible fragments but almost absent in the furnace liningseries we analyzed in the past. Silver is present in traces onlyin two of the slagged linings. Obviously, as far as we know,all these elements could be present on both crucibles and fur-nace linings after repeated technical events instead of beingdeposited during a single cycle. For this reason, the absenceor scarcity of arsenic in the furnace linings is quite interesting.In conclusion, were the crucibles used for ores smelting oresfor melting, alloying and pouring copper alloys into moulds ?

Table 2 : XRD patterns obtained for 2 crucible fragments. Exterior surfaces, cores, inner surfaces, slagged surfaces and a copper prill visibleon the interior of sample 10-2, near the rim, have been separately sampled and tested. Key : –– = absent ; tr. = traces ; + = present ;++ = abundant.

context quartz wollastonite diopsideanorthiticfeldspars

atacamite gypsum

13-1 exterior ++ –– ++ + –– ––

13-1 core ++ –– ++ + –– +

13-1 interior ++ –– ++ + –– ––

10-2 exterior ++ –– + + –– ––

10-2 core + –– ++ ++ –– tr.

10-2 green slag + –– ++ ++ –– tr.

10-2 green slag + –– ++ + –– ––

10-2 copper prill + –– ++ –– ++ +

8 green slag + + ++ + –– ––

10-36 green slag tr. –– ++ –– + ––

25. See SALVATORI et al., 2002.


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Although there is no conclusive proof, their limited capacityand curated surfaces, together with the crucible with higharsenic peaks and the poly-metallic nature of the processedmaterial, in our opinion, would rather point to the second pos-sibility. This impression is also supported by the absence ofany copper or copper/iron mineral residue (besides atacamite)in the slag crust fragments we analyzed.

A series of powdered samples taken as ideal cross-sectionsof the walls was also analysed using FT-IR and TGA26 withthe purpose of independently testing results of differentdegrees of exposure to heating of the interior and exterior ofthe crucibles. The samples we analysed were the following :

Table 3 : Altyn-Depe. Qualitative X-Rays Fluorescence (EDXRF) patterns of the inner surface of the 10 crucible fragments discussed in thepaper. Key : –– = absent ; tr. = traces ; x = secondary peak ; xx = main fluorescence peak. (x)* These elements were measured on the ceramicbackground and therefore reflect the composition of the crucible clay plus soil contamination more than metallurgical components. Ca, Sr, Rb,at right of the table, are due to soil contamination.

Description Cu As Pb Sn Fe Ca Sr Rb

10-1 rim fragment (frg.) xx x tr. –– x tr. tr. tr.

13-1 rim frg. tr. xx x –– (x)* (x)* (x)* ––

13-2 rim frg. xx x x x x tr. tr. ––

10-2 base frg. xx x tr. x x tr. –– ––

8 lower wall frg. xx tr. –– x –– tr. tr. ––

10-3 wall frg. xx x x –– x tr. tr. ––

13-3 wall frg. xx x x tr. x tr. tr. ––

10-36 slag crust xx x x x x –– –– ––

TS 1 wall frg., nd x tr. x x xx tr. –– ––

TS 2 wall frg., nd x –– –– –– xx x x tr.

Table 4 : Altyn-Depe. Qualitative X-Rays Fluorescence (EDXRF) patterns of the inner surface of 12 fragments of vitrified furnace linings foundon surface in AS 2, immediately west of the “Copper Mound”. Counts for metallic elements were lower than in the preceding cases. Fe is presentmainly as a clay matrix component (modified after SALVATORI et al., 2002).

No Description Cu As Pb Sn Fe Ag Sb

AS 2 845 furnace lining x –– x –– x –– ––

AS 2 844 furnace lining x –– x x x x ––

AS 2 728 furnace lining x –– x x x –– ––


AS 2 707 furnace lining x x? x x x –– ––


AS 2 692a furnace lining x –– x –– x –– ––

AS 2 692 furnace lining x –– x –– x x ––



AS 2 605 furnace lining x x x –– x –– x


26. For this latter see HATAKEYANA and LIU ZHENAI, 1998.


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13-1, exterior and interior surfaces ; TS 1, interior (below thegreenish slagged surface) and exterior surface ; TS 2, interior(below the greenish slagged surface) and exterior surface. FT-IR patterns for the series of six samples were repetitive andhomogeneous (fig. 11), showing high temperature feldsparsand diopside (already detected by XRD), quartz, and nitratesand gypsum absorbed from the soil. In every case, no real dif-ference was detected between inner and outer surfaces.

TGA tests showed a diversified range of compoundsabsorbed from the surrounding soil. The two thermograms for13-1 (fig. 12a), on the basis of the total weight at 150 °C, indi-cate the same amount of (bi-hydrated) gypsum – about 2 % –on both the inner and outer surfaces of the vessel. Interior andexterior surfaces of the vessel have the same gradual loss ofweight up to 500 °C. Both curves showed two weight losses,the first at 571 °C and 603 °C, the second and more substan-

tial at 787 °C and 811 °C. At 900 °C, the residue was 93.0 %for the interior and 88.2 % for the exterior. After extractingthe soluble salts by the means of repeated washes in deionisedwater, the new thermograms (fig. 12b) coincided again up to500 °C, after which value, on the interior, the weight losseshad disappeared on the interior, thus marking the effectiveremoval of the soluble fractions, while the exterior, evidentlymore porous (being less sintered), still retained a minorweight loss due to the decomposition of carbonates at around600 °C. Other samples showed similar trends. The presenceof soluble salts was independently checked by ionicchromatography ; sodium, potassium, calcium and traces ofmagnesium cations were detected, together with chlorides,nitrates, and sulphates as anions. On this basis, the weightlosses at 795 °C were ascribed to the thermal decompositionof a high amount of absorbed nitrates.

Fig. 11 : Altyn-Depe. Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) patterns obtained for the exterior (upper curve) and interior (lower curve) surfaces ofcrucible fragment TS 1. The interior surface was sampled on fracture below the slag coating. From left, the detected components includegypsum, water, silicatic phases (identified after XRD as feldspars and diopside), nitrates and quartz. No meaningful difference was recordedbetween the interior and the exterior.


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Fig. 12 : Altyn-Depe. Thermograms obtained for the interior and exterior surfaces of crucible fragment 13-1, as found (fig. 12a) and after asuccessful extraction of soluble salts by the means of repeated washes in deionized water (fig. 12b). For further comments and interpretationssee text.

a

b


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RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The crucibles used at Altyn-Depe in AS 7 were small tomedium truncated cone shaped bowls, more or less convex inprofile. The walls were relatively thick. Their maximum poten-tial capacity varied between 1,300 and 3,300 cubic cm. Cruci-bles were carefully fashioned with a mixture of fine silty claytempered with roughly equal percentages (in volume) of finelychopped straw and of finely ground quartz. The hand formingtechnique was coil building, followed by surface smoothingand, in some cases, by the application of a fine bright red slip.There is no evidence of the use of a potter’s wheel. Beforebeing used for copper melting, the vessels were probably firedin strongly oxidising conditions ; the slip lowered the porosityof the walls and turned some of the vessels red-orange. Ourhypothesis is that the crucibles were used (at least in the finalevents) for melting and pouring copper-lead-tin alloys.

Tin traces were detected in six cases out of a total of 10 ana-lysed fragments. This further supports the views that in south-ern Turkmenistan, in the late 3rd millennium BC, tin bronzeswere becoming common. On the other hand, because arsenicseems to abound on our crucibles, but is almost absent in a con-temporary cluster of furnace lining pieces, we should take intoaccount the possibility that this element (at least in some cases)was deliberately added to the alloys and was not always a cas-ually smelted ore component. This might confirm that the mostdistinctive technological accomplishment of Middle Bronzeage metallurgy was an easier access to variable metal basematerials and the consequent wider range of technologicaloptions, as a consequence of a rapid growth of medium- andlong-distance trade networks, rather than technical progress perse (as claimed, in the past, by Russian scholars).

Oxidation-reduction patterns and the general evidence of arather uniform exposure to firing would confirm that crucibleswere heated from above within a closed or semi-closed, well-controlled metallurgical oven or furnace (at present, this seemsto be the most likely explanation). While in one case XRDshowed that peaks of high-temperature, newly formed silicateswere more visible in the interior and in the core of the wall thanon the exterior, thus supporting the above reconstruction, thiswas only generically substantiated by further analytical work.The relatively low percentage of clay minerals in the vessels’walls, their advanced sintering and soil contamination effectsprevented us from understanding in detail the thermal behav-iour of the finest plastic fractions in the sampled sections of thecrucible walls ; finer scale sampling and more sensitive quanti-tative techniques might turn out more useful in future.

TGA thermograms, in fact, revealed the presence of largeamounts of soil contaminants such as gypsum, chlorides,nitrates and carbonates, in general more abundant, as onewould reasonably expect, on the highly porous and less sin-tered exterior surfaces. The first three types of compoundswere absorbed (and re-deposited within the crucible fragmentsand their inner pores) from the locally strong alkaline sedimen-tary environments. Evidence for gypsum absorption is par-tially contradictory, indicating high amounts in the core of thewalls as well as, in another case, on the outer surface. The highamount of absorbed nitrates was puzzling, until we recalledthat AS 7, in the north-western part of the mound, lies veryclose to a fenced area used for a long time by local herders asa seasonal pen for a large herd of goats, marked on the surfaceof the mound by an extensive and thick formation of trampleddung. Nitrogen compounds evidently came from there.

Elisia MASIOLI

Massimo VIDALEFaculty of Conservation of Cultural Heritage

University of Bologna at Ravenna Via Mariani, 548100 Ravenna

[email protected]

[email protected]

Domenico ARTIOLI

Pierluigi BIANCHETTI

Giuseppe GUIDA

Giancarlo SIDOTIIstituto Centrale per il Restauro (ICR)

Piazza San Francesco di Paola, 900184 Roma

[email protected]

[email protected]@[email protected]

Sergio DI PILATOHospital “Regina Margherita”

Institute of RadiologyVia Morosini, 30

00153 RomaItaly

[email protected]

Sandro SALVATORI(corresponding author)

Superintendence for the Monumental Heritage of Veneto RegionSanta Croce

(Palazzo Soranzo Cappello)30124 Venice

[email protected]


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Copper-melting Crucibles from the Surface of Altyn-Depe, Turkmenistan (ca. 2500-2000 BC)

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Transcript of Copper-melting Crucibles from the Surface of Altyn-Depe, Turkmenistan (ca. 2500-2000 BC)