A study of the composition and microstructure of silver hoards from Tel Beth-Shean, Tel Dor, and Tel Miqne, Israel

S. Shalev; D. Shechtman; S. Sh Shilstein

doi:10.1007/s12520-013-0149-0

A study of the composition and microstructure of silver hoards from Tel Beth-Shean, Tel Dor, and Tel Miqne, Israel

S. Shalev, D. Shechtman, S. Sh Shilstein

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The chemical composition and microstructure of objects excavated in three hoards from the end of the Late Bronze and Iron Age sites in Israel were studied using energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis and optical metallography. The objects are industrial in origin (scrap or jewelry pieces) and include differently shaped ingots, mainly so-called hacksilber, in various sizes. The primary composition is Ag with typically several percent of Cu and Au and less than 1 % of Pb. The concentrations of these metals in each hoard differ significantly. The microstructure of the hacksilber ingots shows a typical dendritic as-cast structure and a surface cold work deformation, probably caused by chiseling the ingot piece off a larger cast bar. Relatively high concentrations of Au, as in the above samples, were observed previously in Egyptian ancient silver which differs from the ancient Greek silver that contains a significantly lower Au content.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	221-225
Number of pages	5
Journal	Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Volume	6
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-013-0149-0
State	Published - Sep 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We thank the excavators of these three hoards for giving us the permission to study and publish some of their finds: Prof. A. Mazar, the excavator of Beth-Shean; Prof. E. Stern, the excavator of Tel Dor; and Prof. S. Gitin and Prof. T. Dothan, the excavators of Tel Miqne. The authors also thank A. Behar-Eliyahu and N. Yahalom for their assistance and for supplying samples from Beth-Shean for our study; E. Mintz and A. Vaskevich for their help in the preparation of some samples; M.E. Generalov, E.G. Osadchy, G.A. Palyanova, and S. Weiner for their useful discussions and comments; and especially the anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments. S. Shilstein is thankful for support in the framework of the ERC grant no. 229418.

Keywords

Bronze and Iron Age
Chemical content
Hacksilber
Israel
Microstructure
Silver hoards

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Archaeology
Anthropology
Archaeology

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10.1007/s12520-013-0149-0

Cite this

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title = "A study of the composition and microstructure of silver hoards from Tel Beth-Shean, Tel Dor, and Tel Miqne, Israel",

abstract = "The chemical composition and microstructure of objects excavated in three hoards from the end of the Late Bronze and Iron Age sites in Israel were studied using energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence analysis and optical metallography. The objects are industrial in origin (scrap or jewelry pieces) and include differently shaped ingots, mainly so-called hacksilber, in various sizes. The primary composition is Ag with typically several percent of Cu and Au and less than 1 % of Pb. The concentrations of these metals in each hoard differ significantly. The microstructure of the hacksilber ingots shows a typical dendritic as-cast structure and a surface cold work deformation, probably caused by chiseling the ingot piece off a larger cast bar. Relatively high concentrations of Au, as in the above samples, were observed previously in Egyptian ancient silver which differs from the ancient Greek silver that contains a significantly lower Au content.",

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note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments We thank the excavators of these three hoards for giving us the permission to study and publish some of their finds: Prof. A. Mazar, the excavator of Beth-Shean; Prof. E. Stern, the excavator of Tel Dor; and Prof. S. Gitin and Prof. T. Dothan, the excavators of Tel Miqne. The authors also thank A. Behar-Eliyahu and N. Yahalom for their assistance and for supplying samples from Beth-Shean for our study; E. Mintz and A. Vaskevich for their help in the preparation of some samples; M.E. Generalov, E.G. Osadchy, G.A. Palyanova, and S. Weiner for their useful discussions and comments; and especially the anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments. S. Shilstein is thankful for support in the framework of the ERC grant no. 229418.",

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A study of the composition and microstructure of silver hoards from Tel Beth-Shean, Tel Dor, and Tel Miqne, Israel

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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