Study of a copper slag from a 13th-century BC tomb at Enkomi, CyprusLéon Brun

STUDY of a COPPER SLAG FROM a TOMB of the 13th CENTURY BC. from ENKOMI - Island of Cyprus. =============

The piece of slag that we have studied was collected by Mr SCHAEFFER, Curator of the Musée préhistorique et gallo-romain de Strasbourg, in a tomb at Enkomi (Island of Cyprus) dated to the 13th century BC by its pottery.

We give below a series of observations made on this slag. We think we can prove that we are indeed dealing with a slag coming from the treatment of an authentic ore of copper and of iron. We shall try to establish how the metallurgists of the 13th century BC had obtained it.

Stripped of the clayey gangue which covered it, the sample shows very clear traces of copper oxide of a very fine green on a rust background. The predominant yellow ochre tint shows that iron there is in abundant quantity.

Separated into several pieces, without difficulty, the sample showing deeply altered cracks by time, we have revealed in severalfresh fractures, three principal mineralogical parts- :

- An iron silicate having the appearance of haematite or of olivine-like;

- A friable iron oxide, of a very fine red and resembling colcothar;

- Iron pyrite in small golden-yellow nodules, clearly crystallised.

The analysis gave the following results:

We must mention that we took an average sample as far as it is possible to do so on

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