Open AccessOsmium isotope analysis as an innovative tool for provenancing ancient iron: A systematic approach
Author(s) -
Michael Brauns,
Naama Yahalom-Mack,
Ivan S. Stepanov,
Lee Sauder,
Jake Keen,
Adi Eliyahu-Behar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0229623
Subject(s) - osmium , smelting , isotope analysis , isotope , geology , ferrous , metallurgy , chemistry , geochemistry , materials science , quantum mechanics , ruthenium , catalysis , biochemistry , oceanography , physics
The innovation of iron production is often considered one of the greatest technological advances in human history. A reliable provenancing method for iron is instrumental for the reconstruction of economic, social and geo-political aspects of iron production and use in antiquity. Although the potential of osmium isotopes analysis for this purpose has been previously suggested, here we present for the first time the results of osmium isotope analysis of ores, bloom and metal obtained from a set of systematic, bloomery iron-smelting experiments, utilizing selected ores from the Southern Levant. The results show that the 187 Os/ 188 Os ratio is preserved from ore to metal, with no isotopic fractionation. In addition, enrichment/depletion of osmium content was observed in the transition from ore to metal and from ore to slag. This observation has potential significance for our ability to differentiate between the various processes and sheds light on the suitability of various production remains for this method, which emerges as a robust and promising tool for the provenancing of archaeological ferrous metals.