Presence of bismuth in slag heap upcoming to a copper sample found in a Roman Siete Cuevas (Cerro Muriano, Córdoba (Spain))

Abstract

The detection, clearly, of the presence of up to 5% by mass of bismuth, in big drops of copper from a Roman era smelter, located near the Cerro de la Coja (Siete Cuevas) in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba); this assumes that some copper produced at this location in Roman times, containing bismuth. In previous studies by our research group, in such samples from the same archaeological site, the presence of this element was not detected. This fact, the presence of bismuth in a sample of copper in Cerro Muriano (Córdoba), it can mean the treatment of minerals from other sources, more or less far away, of this mining localitation. Correspondence to: Antonio J. Criado Portal, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain, E-mail: antoniocriado@quim.ucm.es