Pale ore

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Pale ore

Pale ore is a collective term in miners' language for a large group of chemically complex sulfide minerals . The main representatives of this group are:

  • Tetrahedral Cu 12 [S | (SbS 3 ) 4 ], antimony white ore with 25–45% Cu, 0.5–32% Ag, 3–6% Zn, 25–30% Sb
  • Tennantite Cu 12 [S | (AsS 3 ) 4 ], arsenic pale ore, light pale ore or binnite with 30–53% Cu, 15–20% As

In addition, the following minerals and mixed crystals also belong to the pale ores:

  • Freibergite (Ag, Cu) 10 (Fe, Zn) 2 [S | ((Sb, As) S 3 ) 4 ], silver ore with up to 40% Ag
  • Germanite Cu 13 Fe 2 Ge 2 S 16
  • Colusite ≈ Cu 13 V (As, Sn, Sb) 3 S 16
  • Black or Hg tetrahedrite, also mercury pale ore or Hermesite with up to 17% Hg, variety of tetrahedron
  • Annivit or Bi-Tetrahedrite, a variety of Tetrahedrite

etymology

The old German term pale ore was coined by the miners due to the characteristic pale-gray to iron-black color of this type of ore. Despite the often fluctuating composition, a common term seemed to be justified because of the matching crystallographic and physical characteristics. Among other things, all Fahl ores crystallize in the cubic crystal system , known as silver and mercury carriers . Silver Rich Fahlerze were (also on the basis of their lighter color than "Weißgültigerz" Weißgiltig , Weißgülden ), respectively.

In his 1769 posthumously published work, Draft of a Mineralogy for the Service of Students (3rd edition, p. 121), Johann Gottlob Lehmann described the pale ores as "black-gray, solid silver, which consists of silver, copper, arsenic, sulfur and iron."

archeology

In archeology, pale ore is sometimes used as a synonym for arsenic or antimony bronzes , as they were particularly common in the Early Bronze Age . In the Caucasus, of course, there was pale ore, while there was a lack of tin, so it was preferred here until the end of the Bronze Age . In the Alpine region, too, pale ore was often used for certain objects in the Early Bronze Age. In the Early Bronze Age finds in Central Germany, 90% of the metal finds are from different types of Fahlerzkupfer, whereby four groups can be distinguished on the basis of the analyzes:

  1. Nickel-rich fahler ore copper: especially in the early deposits found (Dieskau III, Halle-Giebichenstein, Kyhna , Schollene). For the upswing of metallurgy at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Central Germany, nickel-rich pale ore copper is obviously of particular importance.
  2. Pale ore copper with a very specific silver content of approx. 1% and a variable Ni content, in the hoards of Kanena III and Schkopau.
  3. Low-alloy tin bronzes based on pale ore copper, which differs from the other types due to its lower silver content. At Beilen von Freiroda, Lissen, Burgstaden and partly Bennewitz.
  4. Ring metal, which in terms of quantity is only of minor importance in Central Germany.

The differences in the metal composition between the hoards could be explained by the fact that each deposit individually reflects the types of copper over a certain period of time, with the availability of the types of metal apparently changing rapidly over a period of 250 years.

literature

Web links

Commons : Fahlerz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mineralienatlas: Schwazite
  2. ↑ Mineral Atlas: Annivit
  3. ↑ Hans Lüschen: The names of the stones. The mineral kingdom in the mirror of language . 2nd Edition. Ott Verlag, Thun 1979, ISBN 3-7225-6265-1 , p. 342 .
  4. ↑ Hans Lüschen: The names of the stones. The mineral kingdom in the mirror of language . 2nd Edition. Ott Verlag, Thun 1979, ISBN 3-7225-6265-1 , p. 214, 361, 375 .
  5. ^ Alistair Pike: Appendix: Analysis of Caucasian metalwork - the use of antimonal, arsenical and tin bronze in the Late Bronze Age. (PDF) In: Ancient Caucasian and Related Material in The British Museum. The British Museum, London 2002, pp. 87-92.
  6. ↑ Tobias L. Kienlin, E. Bischoff, H. Opielka: On the metallography of prehistoric artifacts: results of an investigation on copper and bronze axes from the northern Alpine region . In: P. Portella (Ed.): Advances in Metallography. Lecture texts of the 37th Metallography Conference, 17.-19. September 2003 in Berlin . Material Information Society, Frankfurt 2004 ( special volumes of practical metallography . 35), pp. 3–10
  7. ↑ TL Kienlin: Early Metal in the Northern Alpine Region: An investigation into technological and cognitive aspects of early metallurgy based on the structure of early Bronze Age axes . In: Archaeological Information . 27, 2004, pp. 187-194 doi: 10.11588 / ai.2004.1.16825
  8. ↑ TL Kienlin: Early Bronze Age full-grip daggers and marginal ridge axes: On manufacturing technology, composition and material perception . In: Archaeological correspondence sheet . 35, 2005, pp. 175-190.
  9. ↑ The finds from Nebra in comparison to other early Bronze Age finds of the macroregion , mars.geographie.uni-halle.de