Our latest Paper Spotlight comes from SAS member Nicolás C. Ciarlo (University of Cadiz), who shares a pair of recently published papers on archaeometallurgy.
The first, is "Spatially resolved neutron texture measurements of copper bolts from the Deltebre I (1813) site", published in the journal Materials Characterisation. Congratulations to Nicolas and the other authors! Check out the abstract below:
"Spatially resolved neutron texture analyses were performed on several copper bolts used to fasten different wooden components of the hull of the Deltebre I (1813) shipwreck. Since 2008 this site has been the subject of a thorough archaeological study by the Catalan Centre for Underwater Archaeology of the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia. It has been identified as one of the transport ships of a combined British, Sicilian and Spanish fleet that ran aground in the Ebro delta, off the coast of Catalonia, after an unsuccessful expedition to liberate the city of Tarragona from Napoleon's forces. In this paper, the texture and texture gradients of five different bolts recovered from this site were examined non-destructively, using the TOF neutron scanner ENGIN-X and analysing the data using the NyRTex methodology. The spatially resolved texture results indicate that at least three different methods were probably used to manufacture the bolts: drawing, casting, and forging and/or rolling. These results can both shed light on the processes of manufacture of fastenings of the early 19th century and contribute to identifying the ship.”
Berthaut-Clarac, S., Ciarlo, N.C., Bethencourt, M., Cloquet, C., 2026. A new insight into the sheathing of early 19th-century French warships: SEM-EDX and ICP-MS analyses of copper-based samples from the Lion (1809) and Robuste (1809). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 74, 105910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105910
The second paper is on the forging of meteoritic iron: “Compositional, Microstructural, and Microtextural Evolution of an Octahedrite Iron Meteorite During Experimental Forging: Implications for Archaeometallurgy” in Archaeometry.
Highlights
- Characterisation of the chemical, microstructural, and microtextural evolution of an octahedrite iron meteorite
- Experimental forging and analyses of samples using LIBS, XRF, and SEM-EDS-EBSD
- Framework for interpreting the technological processing of meteoritic iron artifacts in archaeological contexts
Summary
Meteoritic iron represents an early metallic resource exploited by human societies. Despite its archaeological significance, the thermo-mechanical behavior of meteoritic iron during forging remains poorly understood. In this study, forging experiments were conducted on an octahedrite iron meteorite to evaluate its chemical, microstructural, and microtextural evolution under controlled thermal conditions. Samples were forged at three temperature ranges and subsequently analyzed using LIBS, XRF, and SEM-EDS-EBSD. The results provide experimental constraints on the thermal thresholds controlling the preservation or destruction of Widmanstätten patterns during forging and offer a framework for interpreting the technological processing of meteoritic iron artifacts in archaeological contexts.
García, L.N., Macchi, J.A., Senesi, G.S., Henry, R., Cuvilly, F., Ciarlo, N.C., 2026. Compositional, Microstructural, and Microtextural Evolution of an Octahedrite Iron Meteorite During Experimental Forging: Implications for Archaeometallurgy. Archaeometry. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70167
Congratulations to Nicolas and his colleauges! Find out more about how to share your work with a Spotlight.