Medieval metallurgy

Paris experienced huge growth in the 13th century, going from 25 000 residents around 1180 to over 220 000 in 1328. As the capital of the Kingdom of France, the city was home to a wide number of officers who worked for the kingdom's central institutions and the grand patrician manors where the court would sojourn whenever the King spent time in Paris; yet, the majority of the population worked for a living in manufacturing and trade.
The late 13th to early 14th century also marked a period of time during which active standardization and societal regulation occurred, especially in economic activities. The Livre des metiers by Étienne Boileau started a movement towards the systematic recording of the various trades and craft regulations. This trend is clearly documented with the seven Roles de la taille parisiens (lists of taxpayers) of the reign of Philippe le Bel.
Along with other written records of working practices, these sources enable us to identify exactly which crafts were involved in copper working and which activities were carried out in Paris. Additionally, the texts allow us to pin-point these craftsmen in their social setting by utilizing a twofold approach identifying both the details of their personal fortune and their status in the economic environment.       
Keywords: written records, archaeology, workshop, craft, social history, topography

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

In 2017, the CXCII excavation continued the study of one of the sections of the central part of the Bolgar fortified settlement (10–15 cc.), located 80 meters to the south-west of the Cathedral Mosque. The investigated area was 304 m², on which 190 objects were investigated. The collected collection of individual finds and mass material includes numerous household items, glass ornaments, coins, fragments of irrigation utensils, entirely preserved ceramics, iron, non-ferrous metals. Of particular interest are 20 valves of stone molds of varying degrees of preservation, as well as items for trade: folding scales and weights, including the eastern type. From the layer of the Golden Horde time, there is a significant amount of amber raw amber, fragments, semis and products – beads and pendants, which indicates the presence of a workshop for processing amber. The new data allow us to speak about the existence in the Golden Horde time in the territory to the southwest of the Cathedral Mosque of a vast trade and craft quarter, where jewelers, bone carvers, glass craftsmen, ambers and traders lived. In the pre-Mongol period (10–12 cc.), there were estates specializing in iron production in this sector, as evidenced by the complex of metallurgical furnaces and the accumulation of crushed iron ore (over 50 kg).

The site is located in the vicinity of Brestnitsa village, Lovech municipality. During the months of May – July, complete excavations were carried out at the servitude of the Hemus Motorway route and the road junction “Boaza”.
A layer with evidence of ancient habitation lies right under the humus. The layer is characterised by a large quantity of small-sized household pottery sherds, small pieces of burnt clay and charcoal. Buildings made of stones without solder and traces of wooden constructions were uncovered. They belong to the еastern periphery of a settlement dated to the second half of the 2nd – mid-3rd c. AD.
Most impressive among the discovered structures is a large antique ceramic kiln with preserved stoke pit, stoking channel, support, combustion (lower) chamber and parts of a perforated (oven) floor. The kiln is dug into the ancient terrain and its entrance is located to the west. During its last use, the eastern half of the perforated floor collapsed and part of the production fell into the lower chamber.
Furthermore, three dugout dwellings with a rectangular plan and four household ovens were found. Radiocarbon measurements show dates belonging to the Middle Ages, the mid-7th – 9th c. AD. Three more kilns for processing iron ore were discovered. Belonging to the Medieval period are also three graves, most likely part of a Christian necropolis.
The majority of finds are pottery sherds dated mainly to the Roman period and fewer dated to the Early Middle Ages and small-sized metal objects. The main vessel shapes are pots, bowls and plates attributed to the table and kitchenware categories.
The rescue excavations of Site No. 4 were completed and the site is turned over for construction work.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

The work deals with the results of interdisciplinary research of cast iron dishware from the town of Juketau – one of the large towns of Volga Bolgaria which continued to exist in the period of the Ulus of Jochi (the Golden Horde). Information of dishware morphology are represented in the article. The archaeometric research is based on the investigation of the microstructure of cast iron samples with surface mapping using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. The microelemental composition was determined with the use of emission spectral analysis (ESA). The characteristics of the production technology were revealed as a result of studying the elemental and phase composition across the area of the transverse fracture and longitudinal polished section. The results of spectral analysis allow single out two primary groups with different trace impurities characterizing the distinctive features of raw material.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

In the research presented, an analysis was made of the results of the determination of the chemical composition and structural features of 12 fragments of cast iron cookware found in the Chertovo settlement, Komarovka 1, Beketovka, Moshaik, Bolshoy Tolchin and Selitrenovoye settlements (Astrakhan region). Methods of optical emission spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used. The main technological aspects of the production of cast iron cookwares from the Golden Horde settlements of the Lower Volga are revealed. In addition, two types of cast iron cookwares are distinguished in chemical composition with a preliminary binding of one of them to local raw materials.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.

The Chiaravalle Cross, a masterpiece of Mediaeval goldsmithery, went under restoration in 2016. This was a unique opportunity to undertake an in-depth multidisciplinary study. Several issues were addressed, as for example the chronology of the Cross, lacking any official document about it. The scientific investigations included in situ and laboratory measurements, and the analyses, part of a multidisciplinary protocol, completely characterized the gemstones adorning the Cross, the cameos, the gold, silver, jasper and glass parts, to derive indications on their provenance, authenticity and dating issues. All the results were shared with the whole collaboration of experts, which included art historians, a restorer, a conservator, a scholar in ancient glyptic, gemologists, archaeometallurgists, physicists and scientists in a very fruitful exchange of knowledge. This work is an example of a real multidisciplinary research, gathering good practices in the study of a complex piece of art.