Abstract
This chapter focuses on technological research on ancient metal artifacts carried out by conservators in museum settings. By virtue of their multi-disciplinary training and experience gained through the daily handling, examining, documenting, analyzing, and preserving archaeological and historic artifacts, conservators bring a unique skill set to the study their physical nature. Often in undertaken in collaboration with archaeologists, art historians, craftsmen, scientists, and a broad range of other professionals, conservation research may focus on manufacturing processes, the identification and characterization of materials, analysis of subsequent alterations and wear, mechanisms of decay, and preservation strategies. Basic methods of fabrication—casting and hammering—as well as metallurgical and mechanical joining processes and surface finishing and elaboration techniques are discussed here. Four cases studies of metalworking traditions in Egypt, Peru, and Cyprus illustrate relationships between ancient metalworking technologies and cultural practices and prejudices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Benner, L. (1987). SEM-identification and documentation of tool marks and surface textures on the Gundestrup Cauldron. In J. Black (Ed.), Recent advances in the conservation and analysis of artifacts. Jubilee Conservation Conference (pp. 393–408). London, 6–10 July 1987. London: Summer Schools Press. (Innovative study on the use of silicon molds to replicate tool marks for SEM examination).
Bray, W. (1985). Ancient American metallurgy: Five hundred years of study. In The Art of Precolumbian Gold, The Jan Mitchell Collection, exhib. cat (pp. 76–84). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Visual and textual sources for New World metallurgy).
Chase, W. T. (1991). Ancient Chinese bronze art, casting the precious sacral vessel. New York: Chinese Institute in America. (Describes replication casting; with essay by K. C. Chang on textual sources).
Cronyn, J. M. (1990). The elements of archaeological conservation. London and New York: Routledge.
Cultural Heritage Imaging. (http://culturalheritageimaging.org/). (Non-profit corporation dedicated to developing reflectance enhancement imaging technology and other digital documentation techniques).
Fröhlich, M. (1996). Zur Technik des Goldgusses bei den Ashanti (Ghana). Das Gold in der Kunst Westafrikas (pp. 43–57). Zurich: Museum Rietberg Zürich. (Investigation of traditional practices by goldsmith).
Gänsicke, S. (2008). Artifact conservation and Egyptology. In R. H. Wilkinson (Ed.), Egyptology Today (pp. 163–185). New York: Cambridge University Press
Gilbert, M., & Vivian, D. (2001). The rise of conservation science in archaeology. In A. Oddy & S. Smith (Eds.), Past practice—Future prospects, British Museum Occasional Paper 145 (pp. 87–94). London.
Hill, M., & Schorsch, D. (2005). King Pedubaste from the Gulbenkian Museum. Lisbon: Investigations into the art of ancient Egyptian large bronze statuary. Metropolitan Museum Journal, 40, 163–195. (Hollow-cast bronze figure presented in text as case study).
Lang, J. R. S., & Middleton, A. (Eds.). (2005). Radiography of Cultural Materials, Oxford and Boston, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2nd ed. London.
La Niece, S., & Craddock, P. T. (Eds.) (1993). Metal plating and patination. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. (A useful volume illustrating a multidisciplinary approach to surface decoration).
Lefferts, K. C., Majewski, L. J., Sayre, E. V., & Meyers, P. (1981). Technical examination of the classical bronze horse from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Journal of the American Institute of Conservation, 21, 1–42. (Landmark technical rehabilitation of Greek bronze erroneously condemned as forgery).
Levy, T. E., & Levy, A. M., Radhakrishna Sthapathy, D., Srikanda Sthapathy, D., & Swaminatha Sthapathy D. (2008). Masters of fire: Hereditary bronzes casters of south India, Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 162. Bochum: Selbstverlag des Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum. (Investigation of traditional workshop practices by an ethnoarchaeologist).
Mattusch, C. C. (1996). The fire of Hephaistos: Large classical bronzes from North American collections. Cambridge: Harvard Art Museum. (Interdisciplinary study with important technical contributions by conservator Henry Lie).
Oddy, A. W., & Meeks, N. D. (1982). Unusual phenomena in the corrosion of ancient bronzes. In N. S. Brommelle & G. Thomson (Eds.), Science and technology in the service of conservation: Preprints of the contributions to the Washington Congress, 3–9 Sept 1982 (pp. 119–124). London: International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. (Interpretation of corrosion structures that reflect manufacturing processes).
Oddy, A. W. (1996). Jewelry under the microscope. In A. Calinescu (Ed.), Ancient Jewelry & Archaeology (pp. 185–197). Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Scheel, B. (1989). Egyptian metalworking and tools. Aylesbury: Shire Publications Ltd. (A summary of studies based on representations in ancient Egyptian tombs with textual annotations).
Schorsch, D. (1998). Silver-and-Gold Moche artifacts from Loma Negra. Metropolitan Museum Journal, 33, 109–136. (Research on Moche joining methods presented in text as case study).
Schorsch, D. (2001). Precious-metal polychromy in Egypt during the time of Tutankhamum. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 87, 55–71. (Considers significance of texts in establishing relative values of precious metals and terminology, and the question of Egyptian “red gold.”).
Schorsch, D., & Hendrix, E. (2003). Ambition and competence in late bronze age Cyprus. Report of the Antiquities Organization, Cyprus (pp. 53–77). (Casting techniques presented in text as case study).
Smith, C. S. (1981). A search for structure: Selected essays on science, art and history. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press. (Pioneering work in the development of the concept of technological style).
Ward, P. R. (1986). The nature of conservation, a race against time. Marina del Rey: The Getty Conservation Institute. (Useful introduction to general principles and philosophy).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schorsch, D. (2014). A Conservator’s Perspective on Ancient Metallurgy. In: Roberts, B., Thornton, C. (eds) Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9017-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9017-3_12
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3357-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9017-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)