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Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Author ORCID Identifier

YİĞİT KURT: 0009-0005-4559-824X

DOI

10.55730/1300-0985.1949

Abstract

The Strandja Mountains in the northwestern part of Turkey host porphyry and skarn type mineralizations and ancient slag heaps, which are the residues of ancient metallurgical processes. Ancient smelting furnaces were established near the skarn type mineralization zones and the ores were processed. Charcoal were used as fuel in these furnaces. Tenorite mineral was detected in the mineralogical analyses of the slags by XRD and it was determined that the furnaces were heated above 1000 °C. When the distribution of SiO2 in the slags was examined according to different end members, it was determined that the melting temperatures were in the range of 1100-1300 °C. According to scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDX) analyses made from the polished sections of the slags, sulfide ore minerals such as chalcopyrite and pyrite were identified. Copper mattes, recrystallized quartz and oxidized biotites detected in pyromethamorphic granite rock fragments indicate that granite blocks were used in the walls of the smelting furnace. The presence of skeletal diopside and magnetite minerals characterizing undercooling in the bright and thin sections of the slags indicates that the furnaces were partially or completely destroyed right after the smelting process. Thus, the molten metal accumulated at the furnace bottom was removed. However, it was determined that the preserved top slags generally solidified in a circular shape. These oval circular forms indicate that they cooled and solidified in the slag pits opened in front of the furnaces.

Keywords

Ancient mining, smelting technology, slag geochemistry, Roman imperial period, Thrace region

First Page

126

Last Page

142

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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