Glossary Metals, materials and technology
Crucible
A small heat-resistant clay vessel in which metal, or sometimes ore, was heated until molten and then poured into a mould.
Crucible fragments are often the best evidence that metal was worked at a settlement. At Kissonerga-Mosphilia, pieces of copper ore and two possible crucibles from Late Chalcolithic levels hint at early local metalworking, although the case is debated. At Middle Bronze Age Alambra, copper seems to have been produced from rich oxidised ores such as malachite in crucibles rather than furnaces, probably in the open air.
A crucible with a pinched pouring spout from Ambelikou-Aletri, now in the Cyprus Museum, was used for melting copper over charcoal with a blowpipe. At Late Bronze Age Kition, crucibles, slag, tuyères and stone moulds were found in the sacred precinct of the temples, where copper workshops stood directly against the temple walls.
Full entry: Copper Metallurgy in Ancient Cyprus
Related terms
- Smelting
Heating ore with a fuel such as charcoal until the metal separates from the rock, leaving a waste called slag behind.
- Tuyère
A clay nozzle set into the wall or top of a furnace so that air from bellows can be blown into the fire to raise its heat.
- Lost-wax casting
A casting method in which a wax model is coated in clay, the wax is melted out, and molten metal is poured into the hollow left behind.