Synthetic study of the emergence of primary copper sulphide metallurgy

Étude de l'émergence de la métallurgie des sulfures de cuivre primaires

Céline Tomczyk (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) , Patrice Brun (2, 5) , Christophe Petit (2, 3)

1 UP1 UFR03 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR Histoire de l'art et archéologie
2 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité
3 Archéologies environnementales
4 AOROC - Archéologie et Philologie d'Orient et d'Occident
5 TranSphères

The extraction of copper from sulphides involves an oxidation phase to separate the copper from the iron contained in the chalcopyrite. It thus differs from the metallurgical processes used until then, which were limited to a single reduction. For this reason, the appearance of sulphide roasting is often described as an innovation in the field of copper production in prehistoric times. This study therefore proposes to study the appearance and spread of the smelting of primary copper sulphides. The database created for this research work is the result of a bibliographic data collection exercise that includes both mines and smelting sites for which the type of ore mined is known. Sites related to the extraction and smelting of copper carbonates, co-smelting cases but also fahlores are grouped in a separate class as they can be processed by simple reduction. A spatial and chronological scheme (between 3,500 and 800 BCE) has been proposed, highlighting the places and dates of appearance of copper sulphide metallurgy but also the uneven distribution of its use occurring at the beginning of the third millennium BCE.

Mots clés: bronze age; neolithic; chalcopyrite; europe; metallurgy

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Céline Tomczyk, Patrice Brun, Christophe Petit. Synthetic study of the emergence of primary copper sulphide metallurgy. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference "Archaeometallurgy in Europe", 73, Editions Mergoil, 2021, Monographies Instrumentum, 978-2-35518-121-4. ⟨halshs-03477880⟩