Fuel Efficiency of Ancient Copper Alloys
Theoretical Melting Thermodynamics of Copper, Tin and Arsenical Copper and Timber Conservation in the B ronze A ge Levant
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8352242 |
|---|---|
| Authors | B Kaufman (0000-0001-9670-9054, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World Brown University Rhode Island Hall, Box 1837 Providence RI 02912 USA, corresponding author), David A Scott (0000-0001-9083-580X, University of California, Los Angeles) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1009-1024 |
| Publication date | 2015-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeometry (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-813X • E-ISSN: 1475-4754 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/arcm.12127 |
| OpenAlex | W1922615180 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 34 |
The melting of pure or alloyed copper, tin and arsenical copper ingots or recycled objects was a drain on the timber and dung fuel resources of many cultures. This paper suggests formulae grounded in thermodynamic principles in an attempt to estimate the energy requirements necessary to melt copper alloys common to both O ld and N ew W orld cultures, with the goal of identifying consumption and conservation patterns. It has been suggested that tin bronze metallurgy was first adopted in the Levant during the E arly B ronze A ge ( EB ) IV , at the onset of the L ate H olocene climate episode ( c .2300–2000 bc ), becoming the most desired alloy by the Middle B ronze A ge ( MB ) II (2000–1530 bc ) due to the ease of melting tin. To test this hypothesis, the formulae are applied here to all published Levantine EB IV – MB II copper alloys. Fuel conservation rates are proposed based on the thermodynamic formulae. Tin bronze is demonstrably more fuel efficient than pure copper. Due to the inherent difficulties in predicting the behaviour of arsenical copper compounds, it is suggested that melting experiments with representative alloys are conducted to further test and refine these energy relationships
Alloy · Bronze · Copper · Copper ore · Metallurgy · Tin · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · Materials Science · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts
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| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.25 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |