Ancient Cooper & Bronze PDF

Welcome to Ancient Copper and Bronze
BRONZE IS
C OPPER AN
D TIN
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LID
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ALL
YST
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AND ON THE DARKENING FIELD OF BATTLE THE ODDS WERE MADE EVEN: LUCRETIUS
Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Copper -Tin Alloys
Copper-Tin
The copper–tin
system at full
equilibrium, which
is never attained in
ancient materials
where the ε phase
only appears after
1000s of hours of
annealing. At tin
concentrations
below 37% the ε
phase does not
appear and all
alloys are α or
(α+δ) eutectoid if
slowly cooled. Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Copper -Arsenic Alloys
Copper-Arsenic
Early Bronze Age.
Usually have 1%-5%
arsenic content.
Heavily cored from
the cast state.
Good casting alloy as
arsenic good
deoxidizer.
Difficult to control
composition as
arsenic may be lost
on heating
Could get arsenic
surface segregation.
Image courtesy of INCRA series on the Metallurgy of Copper.
Ancient Metals Technology & Structure
Native Metals, melted
metals and smelted metals.
Meteoric iron: sporadic
Native copper: common
Native gold: placer/mined
Native silver: rare
Native copper shaped by
hammering and annealing.
Small pieces could be
melted in crucible
and then hammered
and annealed.
Images courtesy of Andrew Alden.

When do we start to get smelted copper?
Answer is different in the Old and New Worlds.
Enriched gossan of oxidized sulphide ores easy to
smelt
Need ore, flux,
charcoal, tuyere
or bellows,
crucibles,
furnace, slag
tapping,
temperature
control, skill.
A shaft furnace from Greece (6th century BC) depicted on a vase showing a
smith forging a bloom in front with the bellows behind.
Images courtesy of A History of Metallurgy.

Native copper utilization
from about 10th - 8th
millennium BC.
Use of meteoric iron
only localized and
sporadic. High nickel
content. Difficult to
work. Originate from
4.5-3 Billion years ago.
Native gold- occurs in
two principal contexts – Egyptian mining.
placer gold and mined gold.
Gold particles can be hammer-welded whilst copper has to
be molten to join. Iron can be welded but not meteoric iron.
Ancient Metals
Copper sulphide ores were either roasted to
oxide or first smelted to copper sulphide and
slag and then oxidised.
Sikkim: India typical primitive method. Copper
sulphide ore with silica gangue is powdered,
mixed with dung into sausage-shaped lumps.
These are roasted on a hearth:
Cu2S + 2O2 = 2CuO + SO2
The copper oxide then mixed with charcoal
placed into shaft furnace 12-15” diameter
and 2-3’ deep.
Possible flow-chart for obtaining copper from

sulfide ore by roasting – the matte process.
Image courtesy of V.C. Pigott.
A shaft furnace could be 30” high in
3 sections to allow removal of ingot.
Three pairs of bellows used with
three tuyeres and ingots made
weighing 61lbs.
Copper may be impure and can be
purified by remelting.
Slag may form a layer above the
metal cake.
Can be tapped or non-tapped slag.
In some furnaces an ingot of metal
could be tapped away, as in the
‘ox-hide’ ingots.
Above: Method of use of elbow-type tuyere found at Apiliki,
Cyprus. Images courtesy of A History of Metallurgy.
B l T f i li d f d Ti I l
Copper Smelting
Bottom view of a tapped
slag and copper ingot
(above) and with the copper
ingot removed (below).
The primary ingot will be a
little rough in terms of
composition and reheating
in crucible and removing
dross will help to remove Fe
or gangue minerals, or
oxides.
Images courtesy of The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper.

Copper Smelting
Copper ingot with photographed
microstructure. The etched ingot
is extremely inhomogeneous and
contains equiaxed copper grains.
Blue Cu-Fe-S inclusions and black
Fe-Cu phases can also be seen.

Copper Smelting
Copper ingot below adhering slag with
photographed microstructure. The
ingot contains blue round and
elongated Cu-Fe-S inclusions. The
etched sample shows coring of the
grains. The sample is
Cu-Fe, with trace elements of
S and Pb.

Hollow lostwax casting Stone bar moulds.
already in use in 5th

millennium BC. Nahal
Mishmar Hoard.
More typical are flat axes
cast in a stone mould.
On heating in a crucible
tend to get reduction of
water vapour by copper
2Cu + H2O = Cu2O + 2H
H enters the hot metal and
when cooled, gases
evolve: might ruin cast
Method of using LBA crucible as
found at Keos, Greece.
Images courtesy of A History of Metallurgy.
Get rid of hydrogen by poling with
green twigs. Helps to release
hydrogen as steam.
Presence of some cuprite helps to
counteract shrinkage of copper on
cooling. Modern equivalent is tough-
pitch copper which has a little oxygen
content.
Get some shrinkage allowed for in
feeders and risers or by the surfaces
of the casting itself contracting.
Some flat axes are large: Lawhead,
Pentland Hills,
Scotland - 12.5 inches long,
weighs 6lbs. Cast from Sardinian oxhide ingots:
Pattada (Sassari), Sedda Ottinnera
hoard: axe, fragment of handle,
flanged axes.
Images courtesy of F. Lo Schiavo.
Copper -Tin and Copper
Copper-Tin -Arsenic Alloys
Copper-Arsenic
Tin and arsenic can
substantially increase
hardness of copper. An
8% tin bronze at 60%
reduction in thickness
from original ingot has a
Vickers hardness of
250Hv
Pure copper hardness
increase is very modest.
Lead additions OK for
castings but not for
hammered sheet.
Work hardening used
without annealing to
make metal harder.
Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Smelted Copper or Native Copper?
Native Copper
The problem is that the purity
of copper smelted from
malachite is analogous to
that of much native copper.
Certain elements such as Au,
Ag, Se, Sb, As, Zn could be
useful in making a prima
facie case for distinction.
Higher As and Sb levels
usually associated with
smelted ores.
Very low levels of Au or Se
usually associated with
Cut Malachite from Arizona, showing typical banded
native copper. morphology, a common feature of malachite
formation.
Images courtesy of Andrew Alden and David A. Scott.
So can metallographic examination help?
Metallography can tell us if the copper is worked or
cast or cast followed by working. We can gauge the
extent of non-metallic inclusions, corrosion, or the
presence of other phases.

An interesting case study, where the result is important for
the technology of the society concerned, involved the
copper alloy ornaments and small implements from the
site of Makrigalios in Greece dating to 5th Millennium BC.

This may allow us to distinguish between artifacts of
native copper and smelted copper but is not
infallible as a method.
Drawings of
metal artifacts
from Neolithic
sites in
Mesopotamia Image courtesy of U.D. Schoop.
The reason for this equivocation is that the grain size and
characteristics of native copper may be very similar to
smelted pure copper.
Native copper in its raw state may have large twinned grains
with unusual heavily
bent strain lines,
strange concentrations
of impurities, and
unusual grain shapes.
But if melted and
worked or hammered,
heated, and re-
hammered can we still
tell its native copper?
Important site: largest ditched Neolithic enclosure in the
whole of Europe.
Were inhabitants already smelting copper or did their
society only use native copper?


Shiva, Lord of the Dance
10th-11th C AD. Shiva as
creator, preserver and
destroyer of the Universe.
In the creation of bronze
patina, has Shiva created
a chaotic, random,
structured, or layered
morphology of alteration
products with time, or has
the object been destroyed
with time? She is shown
here with a reasonable
green patina.
Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Bronze cleaned by
hand, loose left
arm removed, clay
core partially
removed,
immersed in
heated sodium
sesquicarbonate,
then vacuum
treatment, then
distilled water,
with periodic
exposure to high
RH. When bronze
stabilized, arms
reattached, two
stainless steel
bars inserted,
synthetic resin
used to attach
modern armature
inside neck,
shoulders, upper
arms and right
knee. Statue of Victorious youth, Greek, c 300 BC. Hollow cast bronze with
copper inlays, before mechanical cleaning and conservation (left) and after
(right).
Images courtesy of the Getty Museum.
Conservation of Copper
Review of environments:
Products formed during burials.
Products formed during exposure to the atmosphere.
Products formed in
the indoor museum
environment.
Products formed in
marine conditions.
Products
manufactured for
use in patination
or as pigments.

Bronzes of Greece
The magnificent bronzes from
Riace from 5th C BC.
Found in sea near Calabria in
Ionian sea. .
May have been black patinated but
this could be from sea burial.
Conserved with eccentric B70
method using ammonia in
methanol followed by hydrogen
peroxide in methanol and RH
testing, air-abrasive cleaning, RH
testing, local treatment with BTA in
ethanol, only three areas
lacquered.
Images courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art.

Body parts of bronze statues of
various dates. Found in the
Shipwreck bronze finds
Adriatic Sea near Brindisi in Image courtesy of The Victorious Youth.
1992
Deterioration of Copper
Characteristics of some copper oxide and copper
hydroxide minerals
Mineral Formula Crystal system Color Mohs

name hardness
Cuprite Cu2O Cubic Submetallic red 3.5 – 4

Tenorite CuO Monoclinic Metallic gray black 3.5
Spertiniite Cu(OH)2 Often amorphous Blue green 1–2?
Image courtesy of Brimblecombe 1990 and David A. Scott.

Ancient Bronze
Fang Lei 12/11 c BC.
Late Shang 1700-
1050BC
Does the surface
represent the original
patina, subsequent
corrosion. Or a complex
of both?
What do we want our
bronzes to look like?
As they were originally or
as found from burial or
cleaned?
Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

The Lur is a Bronze Age musical instrument. Lurs
were usually made in symmetrical pairs, with
identical tuning.
The Lur is known from Norway, Sweden and north
Germany but most, 37, have been recovered from
Danish bogs. The earliest find is from the end of the
18th century.
The treatment these Lurs have received shows
clearly how conservators have been influenced by
changing ethical standards.
In earlier times the metal was cleaned in acid or
heated "so that the bronze acquired its natural light
yellow colour." Bulges were smoothed out and the
sections of tube were soldered together, using
copper tubes. The idea was to make the lurs
playable, to investigate their pitch and timbre.
Image courtesy of www.natmus.dk/cons/x.

Pure copper reddish, but colour of
Cu-As and Cu-Sn golden so colour
may be important.
Whole variety of ancient copper
alloys used: Cu-As, Cu-Sb; Cu-Ni;
Cu-Ag; Cu-Sn, Cu-Zn; Cu-Sn-Zn, Cu-
Pb, Cu-Sn-Pb etc.
This giant Buddha 50 feet tall,
cast in sections in slightly
different Cu-Sn-Pb alloy.
Weathered to brochantite patina:
no allusion to golden alloy colour.
Great Buddha, 1252, Kotoku-in Temple,

Kamakura, Japan. Hollow bronze. Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Metal Corrosion
Pourbaix diagram
for the system Cu-
SO4-H2O.
Images courtesy of Pourbaix and David A. Scott.

Deterioration
of Copper
Stability diagram of the
system Cu-SO4-H2O with
fog and rain areas shown
for urban atmospheres.
Area A = atacamite
stability; area B =
brochantite stability.
Although the diagram
over-simplifies the actual
situation, it does show
that brochantite should
form in outdoor exposure
an that antlerite may
form in more acidic
conditions. Image courtesy of Graedel 1987 and David A. Scott.
How to treat such
surfaces?

Plot showing the solubility of different copper sulphate and
oxide species in dilute sulphuric acid solutions. Data based
on thermodynamic and
other calculations at 25°C,
after Mattson and Graedel.
Zones for acid rain and fog
are displayed, overlaps
indicating which minerals
are likely at particular pH
levels and sulphate
concentrations. The left
side shows no stable
mineral forms, only
Cu++ in solution.
Image courtesy of Andrew Lins and Tracy Power

Shang Dynasty ding, bronze,
middle Anyang period.
Detail, Shang Dynasty ding.
Note black inlay.
Image courtesy of Honolulu Academy of the Arts.

Chinese investigations into
ancient bronze had already
begun by the 10th-11th century
AD, predating such work in the
West by 800 years.
Numerous recipes from the
Song and Ming periods
attempt to recreate the
appearance of Chinese
bronzes which were already
two thousand years old when
Gao Lian , a Ming collector
records an artificial patina
beginning with sal ammoniac,
alum, borax and baking it….at
the end of a very long recipe
he ends by saying “that such
patinas cannot be expected to
fool the connoisseur”. [such
as Tom Chase]
Bronze Roma with unusual surface
Hexagonal network structure

Within patina. Tin oxide
enriched

Patina
We now know that black patinated
bronzes were a luxury item in the
ancient world.
Knowledge of such alloys seems spread
from China and Japan to ancient Egypt
and Rome.
Created during patination of bronzes
containing small amounts of gold or
gold and silver.
These minor components altering the
cuprite patina from reddish colour to a
brown or black colour.
To the Romans it was the secret of
Corinthian bronze.
Statuette of God Ptah,

Egyptian, c. 664-525 BC. Image courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford.
B
So what was Corinthian bronze? The
apocryphal story retold by Pliny was that a
house burned down in Corinth melting the
bronze, silver and gold of the owner together
making an attractive alloy with dark patina.
Inlaid bronze daggers from Mycenae have
black panels set into the sides which are
themselves inlaid in gold and silver. A typical
composition is 93% Cu, 5% Sn; 1.7% gold,
0.53% silver and 0.5% arsenic. The Egyptian
alloy hsmn-km is of same type as is the
Japanese nikomi chakushoku . The Iliad
mentions the shield Hephaistos made for
Achilles with an alloy of copper, tin, gold and
silver and decorated with inlaid scenes. This
too was probably an example of black-
patinated bronze as is the Roman plaque
held by these Roman senators. [our
juxtaposition].
Roman bronze plaque gr1979.12-13.1
black patinated with gold and silver inlay
Courtesy of British Museum Roman togati Courtesy of Getty Museum
By Roman
period many
alloys had
some Sn, Zn,
Pb, Cu and
some little
changed in
composition
through the
Renaissance
up to modern
times.
Here we have
an 18th C
platinum
coated brass.
Simon-Louis Boizot, Medea rejuvenating
Aeson, 1785-1790. Platinum-coated cast
brass. Image courtesy of the Getty Museum.
The Delphi Charioteer

Delphi Charioteer
Plutarch writing in 2nd C AD
about the bronzes of Delphi:
The Delphic air is denser and
close of texture, with a tension
caused by the reflection from
the hills and their resistance,
but is also fine and biting….this
finesse allows it to enter the
bronze, and to scrape up from it
much solid rust, which rust
again is held up and
compressed……..the scraping up
of the rust is not the only
purpose served by the finesse of
the air; it also makes the colour
itself more pleasant to the eye
and brighter, mingling lustre
with the azure of the blue….”
Images courtesy of The Museum of Antiquities, Athens.
Pourbaix diagrams for the system Cu-CO3-H2O at various
carbon dioxide concentrations
44 ppm 440 4400 ppm 44000 ppm

ppm
Bronze Disease Image courtesy of the Getty Museum.
Miniature
Portrait Bust of
a Woman,
Roman, 25 BC
- 25 AD.
Bronze with
glass-paste
inlays. The
bust is shown
before
conservation,
illustrating
pustular
corrosion with
pitting created
by bronze
disease.
Characteristics of some copper chloride minerals
Mineral name Formula Crystal system Color Mohs

hardness
Nantokite CuCl Cubic Pale green 2.5

Atacamite Cu2(OH)3Cl Orthorhombic Vitreous green 3 - 3.5
Paratacamite Cu2(OH)3Cl Rhombohedral Pale green 3
Clinoatacamite Cu2(OH)3Cl Monoclinic Pale green 3
Botallackite Cu2(OH)3Cl Monoclinic Pale bluish green 3
Anarakite (Cu, Zn)2(OH)3Cl Rhombohedral Light green 3

Deterioration
of Copper
Typical chloride pitting
One form of bronze disease
Difficult to stabilize
Some regions of the world
badly affected.
May be hidden under cuprite
In worst cases of the disease
the bronze may disintegrate.
Togati pustule
By the time these Roman
senators are discussing events
we get copper-zinc alloys used
in Rome as well as bronzes.
Brass with up to 28% Zn.
Lead additions had become
common, a trend that
continues to early 20th century
in use of Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb alloys.
By the Late Bronze Age, lead
additions become common
Relief fragment of two men, Roman, 40-68 CE. Bronze.

Pitting may originally have
been chloride related
Cuprite below original
surface
Cuprite and other
corrosion products above
In this pustule remnants of
delta phase 1000 microns
out into the pie-like crust
Togati pustule
Deterioration: Bronze Disease
Alteration of cuprous chloride to
one of the copper
trihydroxychlorides.
4CuCl + 4H2O + O2 = 2Cu2(OH)3Cl

+2HCl
2HCl + Cu2O = 2CuCl + H2O
2HCl + 2Cu = CuCl + H2
Possibility of extensive or
continuous deterioration due to
acidic conditions and chloride ions.
Volume expansion
Low pH
Further dissolution
Pourbaix diagrams for the system Cu-Cl-H2O at various
chloride concentrations
35 ppm 350 3550 ppm 35500 ppm

ppm
Deterioration: Bronze Disease
External factors Intrinsic factors
Moisture Cuprous chloride
Oxygen Paratacamite
Temperature Volume expansion
RH HCl generated
Storage conditions Fragmentation
Bronze Egyptian bell
Treated with the sodium
sesquicarbonate method
recommended by Scott in 1921.
Treatment has created a pseudo-
patina of malachite over a strange
chalky underlayer.
Stabilization of bronze disease but
treatment has created a simulacra
for a surface instead of the patina as
found from burial.

Mechanical cleaning
Partial cleaning of a bronze German token

Mechanical vs. Electrolytic reduction
Usually mechanical cleaning,skilllfully
used, gives better patina retention.

Benzotriazole (BTA)
Deposits growing on Copper alloy object during BTA treatment.

Investigations of ancient bronzes
Djureite corrosion on a bronze
vase from the Oriental
Institute of Chicago.
Cu1.96S
Is this damage from corrosion
in storage or is it a natural
patina of the bronze vessel?
We can get sulphides forming
from poor storage conditions
or as natural patina
constituents.
Courtesy of Susan Stock

Sulphides often from anaerobic environments where
sulphate-reducing bacteria active. Can create very strange
patinas as coin here shows.
Right: Roman coin excavated in 1986 from the river

Thames
Below: Medieval copper alloy key excavated in 1981
from the river Thames.

Characteristics of some basic copper sulphide minerals
Mineral name Formula Crystal system Color Mohs
hardness
Anilite Cu7S4 Orthorhombic Metallic bluish gray 3
Chalcocite Cu2S Hexagonal Metallic blackish gray 2.5 – 3
Covellite CuS Hexagonal Submetallic blue 1.5 – 2
Digenite Cu1.8S Rhombohedral Blue/black 2.5 -3
Djurleite Cu1.96S Monoclinic Metallic gray 2.5 -3
Image courtesy of Brimblecombe 1990 and David A. Scott.

The copper sulphide
corrosion has a
cauliflower-like
morphology when seen
close-up.
Courtesy of Susan Stock

.
Minute wood and some charcoal fragments preserved within
corrosion crust.
Copper plaque with attached Image courtesy of West Semitic Research.

d
More examples of pseudomorphic preservation of cellular
wood structure.

ESEM studies showed pseudomorphic preservation of wood
cellular structure within copper corrosion products of malachite.
Note spiral thickening of cell wall and some pits.
.
Argument for authenticity too
strong:
Surface preserved within corrosion.
Coherent cuprite layer
Pseudomorphic replacement of
wood
Hammering marks of the plaques
Knowledge that pure copper was
used for other artefacts
Corrosion acceptable
Conclusion: previous view that
plaques are fake is totally incorrect.
Based on a superficial view that
patinas primarily of copper
chlorides do not exist, which is
incorrect.
Image courtesy of West Semitic Research.

Copper -Tin Alloys
Copper-Tin
The copper–tin
system at full
equilibrium, which
ancient materials
where the ε phase
only appears after
1000s of hours of
annealing. At tin
concentrations
below 37% the ε
phase does not
appear and all
alloys are α or
Metals: Body Centered Cubic Lattice
BCC lattice has a good
combination of strength and
toughness. Iron and
chromium are good
examples.
BCC lattices may have

interstitial solid substitutions
such as carbon, which
creates carbon steels.
Carbon is a small atom and
can easily fit into the BCC
lattice spaces.
Metals: Face Centered Cubic Lattice
FCC lattice results in
metals which are soft and
ductile, such as copper,
silver, gold, nickel.
FCC metals easily accept
other metals into solid
solution such as alloys of
gold and silver, gold and
copper, or copper and
silver.
FCC metals such as copper
have good electrical
conductivity and tend to
melt around 1000oC.
Useful for casting, while
iron as such cannot be
cast.
The silver-copper
system is shown
here, although the
actual structures
found in ancient
metalwork are
usually far removed
from equilibrium.
Equilibrium
represents an ideal,
platonic, state to
which we can relate
actual events but
which fails to
describe them
Without these
diagrams we would
be unable to talk
rationally about
structure



Dendritic Segregation
W
In most ancient alloys we or
ke
d
an
get dendritic growth from d
an
ne
ale
the melt. d
This results in very uneven

distribution of alloying
elements: not in
equilibrium as assumed by
the phase diagrams.
If dendrites annealed we
would get equi-axed grain
structure and gross
differences reduced.
Coring in grains a remnant
difference in composition
from the dendritic growth. Images courtesy of David A. Scott.
Dendritic Segregation
In most ancient alloys we get
dendritic growth from the melt.
This results in very uneven
distribution of alloying
elements: far out of equilibrium
as assumed by the phase
diagrams.
If dendrites annealed we would
get equi-axed grain structure
and gross differences reduced.
Coring in grains a remnant
difference in composition from
the dendritic growth.


FCC metals such as Cu, Au, Ag are soft and ductile.
BCC metals such as Fe, Cr have good combination of
toughness and strength.
In FCC metals get
solid solution
alloying such as
Ag-Au. Cu and Au
are mutually soluble
in each other.
Have to look at
phase diagrams for
some simple
systems. Cu-Sn is
complex.
Copper-tin phase diagram.
Ancient Metals and Alloys
Cu-Ag is a more typical binary eutectic system. Limited
solid solubility of Ag in Cu and Cu in Ag.
Get six phase regions
– All liquid
– Alpha phase
+ liquid
– Beta phase
+ liquid
– Alpha + Beta
solid: Eutectic
– Alpha solid
(eg: Ag rich)
– Beta solid
(eg: Cu rich)
Dendritic segregation interferes with this perfect picture
considerably in ancient alloys. Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Copper -Arsenic Alloys
Copper-Arsenic
Early Bronze Age.
Usually have 1%-5%
arsenic content.
Heavily cored from
the cast state.
Good casting alloy as
arsenic good
deoxidizer.
Difficult to control
composition as
arsenic may be lost
on heating
Could get arsenic
surface segregation.
Copper -Arsenic Axe from Ecuador
Copper-Arsenic
Here is a flat axe that would have been cast into an
open mould, or into a partially covered open mould.
10th Century AD Ecuador.
Conserved axe.

Copper -Arsenic Axe from Ecuador
Copper-Arsenic
Cast dendritic structure with

3% arsenic.
Conserved axe.

Copper -Zinc Phase Diagram
Copper-Zinc
Why is zinc so
problematic? We
begin to see one
reason from the
phase diagram:
the melting point
of zinc is very low
compared with
copper: will be
lost as vapour up
the furnace as
ZnO: used for
ointments and
lotions.

MP of zinc is 420oC but more
critically boils at 950oC: below
temperature needed for
extraction. Therefore goes to
oxide or lost up chimney during
smelting.
Cu-Zn brass can be made by
smelting zinc ores and copper
ores mixed together.
Cementation usually produces
alloys with less than 28% zinc.
This is a general limit in the Old
An apparatus used by a Hindu metallurgist for
World where zinc not able to be the manufacture of zinc.
extracted by itself until about
10th century AD.. Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Zinc by Distillation
Clay retort for the production of zinc
at Zawar in India (14th – 16th century
AD).
Schematic section through a loaded

retort with the condenser
fitted. Note the stick
inserted to create a
central channel and to
stop the charge falling
out before the reaction
had started.
Images courtesy of Early Metal Mining and Production.

Two furnaces, or koshthi,
from a block of seven
excavated at Zawar,
dating from the 14th -15th
century Ad. Each furnace
held 36 retorts, some of
which were still in place.
An intact perforated
plate still in situ.
The retorts sat in
large holes and
the small holes
were for air supply
and for the ash to
fall through. Images courtesy of
Early Metal Mining
and Production.
Schematic section through
the centre line of a loaded
furnace. The fire was in the
upper chamber, and the
condenser necks protruded
through the holes in the
grate to the cool chamber
below, where the zinc
condensed.
Schematic plan of a
loaded furnace at the
level of the grate, which
was made up of four
perforated brick plates.
Images courtesy of
Early Metal Mining
and Production.
Copper -Lead Alloys
Copper-Lead
Lead does not mix
with copper.
At high
temperatures get
an emulsion of
two liquids which
helps keep lead
distributed.
Get discrete lead
globules in cast
bronze alloys.
Lead-tin alloys
used as soft
solders.

Gong -he - CAS
Gong-he -28 - VI - Detail
CAS-28
Copper -Tin Alloys
Copper-Tin
The copper–tin
system at full
equilibrium, which
ancient materials
where the ε phase
only appears after
1000s of hours of
annealing. At tin
concentrations
below 37% the ε
phase does not
appear and all
alloys are α or
Copper -Tin: Actual Phase Compositions
Copper-Tin: Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Sections of copper-tin
system showing (1) full
equilibrium, (2) annealed
and (3) usual casting
conditions for chill
castings where the α+δ
range is expanded
compared to the Sand
castings where tin is
dissolved in the α solid
solution.
Copper -Tin Microstructures
Copper-Tin
5% tin, 95% copper, axe from
Bronze Age Iran. No separate
tin-rich phase is evident, as all
the tin is in solid solution with
the copper. The small blue
inclusions are copper sulphides
from the smelting process.
Etching reveals slight coring
shown by darker etching.
Working and annealing of FCC
metals creates twinned
crystals when metal
recrystallizes.
Magnification
x130, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
Strain lines in heavily cold-
worked Middle Bronze Age
chisel from Jordan, showing
no free tin phase in this 6%
tin bronze. It has been
worked and annealed,
creating twinned grains
followed by cold-working
resulting in strain, or slip lines
across the α-phase crystals.
Magnification
x100, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
9% tin bronze showing the
typical structure of the
(α+δ) eutectoid. Note the
presence of small copper
sulphide inclusions (blue)
and coring shown by
variation in colour etching.
If fully annealed the (α+δ)
eutectoid phase would be
absorbed by the α phase
as in some Bronze Age
axes.
Magnification
x210, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
Bronze axe from Austria,
colour etched in acidified
thiosulphate etch,
accentuating the dendritic
coring. The (α+δ) phase
appears white and the α
phase, orange or red.
Cored dendrites are
lighter in colour. 10% tin,
90% copper.
One of the most common
ranges of the copper-tin
system is to have a good
alpha bronze with this
kind of composition.
Copper-Tin
16% Sn, 82% copper
laboratory ingot, slowly
cooled. Coarse dendrites
of α phase with an
extensive infill of (α+δ)
eutectoid.
Some cast ancient
bronzes have this kind of
composition. Bells,
mirrors, handles.
Magnification
x100, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
18% tin, 82% copper as cast
laboratory sample. Slow
cooled. Finely developed α
dendrites with (α+δ) eutectoid
infill.
This kind of alloy was not
used for worked sheet bronze
but only for ancient castings.
As too brittle to hammer out.
Magnification
x100, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
Quenched high tin bronze
mirror from Java. The α-
phase is occasionally
twinned from hotworking.
The background of acicular
needles is a typical
quenched β-phase bronze.
Composition 21.3% tin,
78.3% copper. Quenched
from the β range between
650-750°C.
Quenching prevents the
decomposition of the β-
phase. Magnification
x280, etched in
FeCl3
Copper -Tin: Actual Phase Compositions
Copper-Tin: Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Sections of copper-tin system

showing (1) full equilibrium, (2)
annealed and (3) usual casting
conditions for chill castings
where the α+δ range is
expanded compared to the
Sand castings where tin is
dissolved in the α solid solution.
Copper display panel images
Roman leaded bronze
mirror from Canterbury
revealing unusual two
phase regions, darker
areas of higher lead
content, but with copper
and tin, lighter areas less
lead but higher copper
and tin. Overall
composition about 22%
tin, 8% lead, 70% copper.

Copper-Tin
25% tin, 75% copper
laboratory ingot, cooled.
Slight Widmanstätten
structure to the α phase
precipitates in a matrix of
(α+δ) phase.
The Widmanstätten
precipitation first observed in
iron meteorites and results
from the decomposition of
one high temperature solid
into two solids at lower
temperatures, as shown here.
Magnification
x120, etched in
FeCl3
Copper-Tin
Bronze with 28% tin, 72%
copper.
These alloys have a
cellular structure from the
cast condition, not
dendritic.
Used in some ancient
mirrors and as speculum
metal for telescope
mirrors as takes a very
hard polish. Decorative
use too in historic times.
Alloy is too brittle to be
worked: can only be cast
to shape. Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
Copper-Tin
Tinned Chinese bronze belt
plaque from the Spring and
Autumn period 6th-5th
century BC which probably
has a few residual tin areas at
the surface, followed by η (eta
phase) Cu6Sn5 61%Sn39%Cu;
then ε (epsilon phase), Cu3Sn.
38.2%Sn61.8%Cu; then
eutectoid α+δ phase where
delta is about Cu31Sn8 with
32.6%Sn67.4%Cu.

Copper-Tin
Tinned Cu heated to 550°c for 150 sec. with surface tin, η
(eta phase), ε (epsilon phase), δ, α+δ eutectoid and thin
Sn diffusion
zone. Above
right: same
sample
heated for
10 min. at
550°c =
eutectoid
only.
Magnification x1000
Copper-Tin
Tinned Chinese bronze belt
plaque from the Spring and
Autumn period 6th-5th
century BC which probably
has a few residual tin areas
at the surface, followed by η
(eta phase) Cu6Sn5
61%Sn39%Cu; then ε
(epsilon phase), Cu3Sn.
38.2%Sn61.8%Cu; then
eutectoid α+δ phase where
delta is about Cu31Sn8 with
32.6%Sn67.4%Cu.

Copper-Tin

Francavilla Marittima
The site of Francavilla, Southern Italy, 5th-6th C BC.
Bronze tripod legs of anthropomorphic form.

Image courtesy of Bolletino d’Arte.
The site of Francavilla [RAP]
From left to right,
top to bottom:
•Extensive working and
annealing to shape,
followed by cold-working of
the surface.
•Very small crystallized
grains. Copper sulfide
inclusions are visible.
•Variable grain size with
intergranular corrosion.
•Typical corrosive
penetration along slip
planes in the bronze
crystals infilled with cuprite.
•Corrosion crust principally
of malachite.
•Uneven intergranular
attack.
•Overall view.
•Recrystallized small grain
structure.
•Sulphide and lead
inclusions and very large Image courtesy of Bolletino d’Arte.
Votive bronze leaf
Narrow leaf formed of thin sheet
bronze, with a prominent central rib.
Bottom: view of a section of leaf
showing voids that suggest selective
corrosion of the alloy due to
differential composition.
Magnification
x100, crossed Image courtesy of David A. Scott.
polars
Bronze flower rosette.
Six joining fragments
preserving much of rosette.
Rosette with at least eight
petals, and perhaps
originally as many as eleven.
Hole in centre; no preserved
rivet
Image courtesy of Bolletino D’Arte: the Archaic Votive Metal Objects.

Francavilla Marittima Magnification x50
Right: Overall view of rosette, unetched,

showing cracking and inter-granular
corrosion.
Bottom right: View of etched section
showing small twinned grains and inter-
crystalline corrosion.
Bottom: etched in ammonia peroxide
showing strain lines in the surface areas.
Magnification Magnification
x250 x100

Bronze votive floral sprays.
Two joining flowers, plus
miniscule flower, preserving
complete rod, with portions
of terminals at both ends.
Bent, as shown. Somewhat
corroded.

Francavilla Marittima Magnification
x12.5
Right: View of votive floral spray
showing the corrosion crust tat
displays extensive Liesegang-
type phenomena in a cuprite
and malachite crust.
Magnification
Bottom right: Etched view x100
showing twinned grains with

corrosion through strain lines.

Etruscan bronze from LACMA
Copper slide scans Considered dubious but patina
Appears very acceptable.

Courtesy of Bruce Zuckermany.
Mineralogical complexity to this corrosion crust
Copper plaque microstructure. Image courtesy of West Semitic Research.

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Welcome to Ancient Copper and Bronze

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of Andrew Alden.

Images courtesy of A History of Metallurgy.

Possible flow-chart for obtaining copper from

Images courtesy of The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper.

Images courtesy of The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper.

Images courtesy of The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper.

already in use in 5th

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art.

Mineral Formula Crystal system Color Mohs

Cuprite Cu2O Cubic Submetallic red 3.5 – 4

Image courtesy of Brimblecombe 1990 and David A. Scott.

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Image courtesy of www.natmus.dk/cons/x.

Great Buddha, 1252, Kotoku-in Temple,

Images courtesy of Pourbaix and David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of Andrew Lins and Tracy Power

Image courtesy of Honolulu Academy of the Arts.

Hexagonal network structure

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Statuette of God Ptah,

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

44 ppm 440 4400 ppm 44000 ppm

Mineral name Formula Crystal system Color Mohs

Nantokite CuCl Cubic Pale green 2.5

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Relief fragment of two men, Roman, 40-68 CE. Bronze.

 4CuCl + 4H2O + O2 = 2Cu2(OH)3Cl

 2HCl + Cu2O = 2CuCl + H2O

 2HCl + 2Cu = CuCl + H2

35 ppm 350 3550 ppm 35500 ppm

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Courtesy of Susan Stock

Right: Roman coin excavated in 1986 from the river

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of Brimblecombe 1990 and David A. Scott.

Courtesy of Susan Stock

Copper plaque with attached Image courtesy of West Semitic Research.

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of West Semitic Research.

 BCC lattices may have

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

 This results in very uneven

Images courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Image courtesy of David A. Scott.

Cast dendritic structure with

4CuCl + 4H2O + O2 = 2Cu2(OH)3Cl

2HCl + Cu2O = 2CuCl + H2O

2HCl + 2Cu = CuCl + H2

BCC lattices may have

This results in very uneven

Schematic section through a loaded

Sections of copper-tin system

Right: Overall view of rosette, unetched,