Abstract: Etru.na minerana offers the most interesting range of metallic ores south of the Alps. Large quantities of useful ores, such as copper mixed with lead sulfide and even iron oxide, are found in the Colline Metallifere and in high concentrations on the island of Elba, and in Latium in the area of Monti della Tolfa. Pits, shafts, and galleries were excavated in the Prehistoric (Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age), Protohistoric (Final Bronze Age and Iron Age), and Etruscan periods to obtain metals (mainly copper and silver from sulfides, but also antimonite and tin) from polymetallic ore, and non-metallic products (for example cinnabar from Monte Amiata and alum from open-air alunite quarries). This chapter discusses the distribution of ore and offers a basic overview of techniques used by Pro to historic and Etruscan miners, which were developed further in Roman and Medieval times. Three mining districts are reviewed: the Monti di Campiglia area (Livomo), the Colline Metallifere around Massa Marittima (Grosseto), and the Monti della Tolfa area (Rome), which each present a different level of archaeological investigation and provide a technical and metallurgical framework for the processing of ore and its relationship to settlement systems. Archaeological evidence from mines and metallurgical sites is also used to examine the political influence of some centers in Etruria minerana, namely Populonia and Vetulonia, on mining areas. Special attention is paid to work in progress on Etruscan mining and metallurgical processes for the production of copper and iron from ore using advanced smelting techniques with different types of furnaces forpolymetallic sulfides and iron ores. The result is a picture of Etruscan mining and metallurgy that would continue until the expansion of Roman control into the Monti di Campiglia and Populonia districts, with the production of copper and silver from local mines and of iron from Elba apparently ending during the first century BCE, although new surveys in the Colline Metallifere area suggest that limited production of copper, perhaps silver, and certainly iron from local gossan deposits may have continued until the second century CE; some metallurgical sites remained active until the fourth century CE, leading to the field of Early Medieval mining and metallurgy.
Publication Year: 2017
Publication Date: 2017-09-25
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 3
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