Archaeometallurgical research into the ironworking activities of the Medieval Harbour at Hoeke (Belgium)

Archaeological research at Hoeke, a Late Medieval outer harbour of Bruges (Belgium), has revealed large quantities of iron slags, fuel and other remains of iron working. Archaeometrical study has provided an enhanced insight into the historic iron working process, a craft activity which had up till now remained completely unknown in one of the largest economic hubs of medieval Europe. Several petrological, mineralogical and geochemical analytical methods have been applied for this purpose. The metallographic analysis was performed using reflected light optical microscopy, while the mineralogic... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Biernacka, Paulina
De Clercq, Wim
Dewaele, Stijn
Vanhaecke, Frank
De Grave, Johan
Dokumenttyp: journalarticle
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Schlagwörter: Earth and Environmental Sciences / History and Archaeology / Chemistry / Archeology / Medieval Harbour of Bruges / metallography / iron slags / smithing / GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION / ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE / IRON / SLAG / COPPER
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26992233
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01HAXYK6AN9X5481M97KKNY0JS

Archaeological research at Hoeke, a Late Medieval outer harbour of Bruges (Belgium), has revealed large quantities of iron slags, fuel and other remains of iron working. Archaeometrical study has provided an enhanced insight into the historic iron working process, a craft activity which had up till now remained completely unknown in one of the largest economic hubs of medieval Europe. Several petrological, mineralogical and geochemical analytical methods have been applied for this purpose. The metallographic analysis was performed using reflected light optical microscopy, while the mineralogical composition of the slags was characterized X-ray Diffraction (XRD) Spectrometry. Macroscopic identification of plano-convex bottom slag and hammerscales, combined with the geochemical data pointed out that the examined slag is indicating smithing activity, while no traces for iron ore melting were discovered.