Slags and Ores: Metalworking in the Greek Early Iron Age Settlement at Zagora, Andros

Abstract

Archaeological excavation of the Early Iron Age settlement at Zagora, Andros (Greece), from 1967 to 1974, yielded evidence of metalworking in various locations across the site, however no further analysis was carried out on the material. It is nevertheless clear from this data, as well as the results of archaeological surface survey conducted at the site in 2012, that metal production was an extensive industry at the site. Archaeometallurgical analysis has the potential to provide crucial information regarding metalworking at Zagora and can in turn, contribute to the broader understanding of the integration of industrial activity within the settlement. Such data forms a useful comparison with other contemporary sites at which metalworking was conducted, such as those at Oropos and Eretria, allowing for a better regional understanding of the role of metalworking during the Geometric period. Several different methods of analysis of this archaeometallurgical evidence from Zagora help to provide a framework for understanding the operation of metalworking at the site. Firstly, by cataloguing these finds by stratigraphic context, the spatial distribution and quantification of metallurgical slags and metalworking debris can be established. Secondly, through scientific investigation of the samples, using techniques such as Portable X-Ray Fluorescence, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, the gross composition of the assemblage can be understood through the provision of semiquantitative compositional and mineralogical data. Through detailed analysis of this metallurgical waste, we can begin to identify the manufacturing techniques that were available to the ancient metalworkers of Zagora, the ore sources that they utilised, and the spatial layout of metalworking within the settlement. This analysis will be contextualised within the chaîne opératoire, and how Zagora in turn fits into the wider landscape of Early Iron Age metallurgy.