Refining gold with glass – an early Islamic technology at Tadmekka, Mali

Rehren, Th. and Nixon, S. (2014) Refining gold with glass – an early Islamic technology at Tadmekka, Mali. Journal of Archaeological Science, 49. pp. 33-41. ISSN 0305-4403

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

We describe two crucible fragments from an early Islamic context at the West African site of Tadmekka, in the Republic of Mali. They are made from a very sandy fabric and contain numerous gold particles and mineral grains in a matrix of lightly-coloured glass-based crucible slag. We interpret these as remains of a process separating freshly-panned gold concentrate from residual mineral inclusions, by melting the concentrate together with crushed glass beads. The process has similarities in modern artisanal practice, and shows the versatility of craftspeople in this major urban trading centre famous for its gold wealth.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	gold processing,early islamic,mali,crucible technology
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Centres > Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Centres > Centre for African Art and Archaeology
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	19 Aug 2014 14:56
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2024 00:46
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/49944
DOI:	10.1016/j.jas.2014.04.013

Actions (login required)

View Item