Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.33254/piaz.39.2.5
Nature of the deposit and properties of bog iron ore at the Kalinovac – Hrastova Greda: a model for the analysis of ore exploitation and use in archaeological periods
Tena Karavidović
orcid.org/0000-0003-3046-786X
; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Tomislav Brenko
orcid.org/0000-0002-8935-1813
; Faculty of Mining Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The fundamental raw material used for iron production in the Podravina region during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages was the bog iron ore. Analysis of ore properties and deposits can contribute to the understanding of natural mechanisms that conditioned the exploitation and use of ores in the past. However, locating the deposits is challenging, due to the possibility of full exploitation, degradation and inhibited regeneration or development caused primarily by human activities and impact on the environment. In the modern landscape of Podravina, the Kalinovac – Hrastova Greda 1 – 3 position had the highest potential for ore development and the only, partially destroyed ore deposit. Based on its analysis, a model of the formation mechanism, physiognomy and deposit positioning in Podravina is proposed and methods of exploitation and the potential area of the deposit occurrence in relation to the positions of archaeological sites with iron production remains are discussed. To analyse the technological usability of ore samples with similar properties from the archaeological context, experimental testing of the smelting process was performed with the Kalinovac ore. Based on the results, the factors that could inhibit the production of iron blooms are explained. The latter research also implies a past technological adaptation, ore dressing conditioned by natural preconditions, primarily the variable properties of bog iron ores and the nature of the deposits. Data from surface field survey, geoarchaeological probing, geospatial analysis, experimental testing and mineralogical (XRD) and chemical analysis (ICP – AES) of samples of ore development stages and slag obtained through experimental smelting are used in the analysis.
Keywords
bog iron ore; iron production; late antiquity; early Middle Ages; geoarchaeology; experimental archaeology; geospatial analysis
Hrčak ID:
287988
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2022.
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