Ende 2017 ist Journal 23.1 der Zeitschrift METALLA erschienen. Die Leserschaft erwartet wie üblich ein Portfolio an vielfältigen Beiträgen und Themen.

The chert mines of Wadi el-Sheikh in Middle-Egypt have been well known for over 100 years now; however, archaeological research on this important raw material source is still lacking. In 2014 and 2015 the Vienna Middle Egypt Project of the University of Vienna in cooperation with the University of Virginia and the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum conducted surveys and archaeological excavations in Wadi el-Sheikh. In this articlenew results concerning chert mining, mining technology and the organization of labor in this desert valley are described.

Two crucible fragments were found during recent excavations in levels dated to the Roman imperial period in Elsfleth-Hogenkamp, a site interpreted to be a beach market located at the junction of the Hunte and Weser Rivers with water access to the North Sea. The crucible fragments were discovered in cultural layers dated to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD in an excavation trench placed near the concentration of metalworking debris, copper-alloy objects and casting waste found during terestrial metal-detecting surveys. Near this concentration in southwest part of the site, a fragment of technical ceramic with copper-alloy corrosion products was found as a surface find. These three pieces of technical ceramic were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy and compared with five pottery sherds of local manufacture. Evidence of the casting of gold, silver, bronze and copper was found as well as the importation of high quality technical ceramic. This study focuses on the material and technical aspects of the metallurgical ceramics and the results raise further questions on the meaning and organization of metalworking at the site.

During excavation of a tomb at Bat, Oman, an unusual gold bead entirely composed of 96 granules was discovered. The bead comes from an unstratified context in the bottom of the fill of the tomb, which means that it could date anywhere during the use-life of the tomb between the 3rd and 1st Millennium BC. The technical problems surrounding the manufacture of this bead are discussed and an experimental approach is used to explore a possible method of fabrication. The results of the experiments show that a combination of autogenous welding and brazing with copper salts to construct and join the individual units of the bead was successful to produce a visual replica of the bead. The method of bead construction based on the serial production of units and sub-units also has implications on the practice and organization of goldsmithing during this era.