Bronze producing tool of the first half of the 1st century BC from West Georgia

Abstract

The Article is a discusses of the scientific research process of operating principles of bronze producing tools- crucibles discovered by archeologists in Sachkhere region, village Sairkhe, at Sakhoveli metallurgical spot in 1968. These artefacts always attracted attention due to their original form. But for scientists, it remained a mystery that despite of abundance of crucibles and cast bronze objects of different purposes revealed at Sairkhe site during the archeological excavations, the presence of high temperature producing furnace for metal melting, where these crucibles could have been placed, has never been discovered. As a result of multiple experiments and based on the reliable scientific arguments, we were able to determine that the metallurgists from Sairkhe possessed totally original method of bronze production. They created such type of crucibles that didn’t need big furnaces producing high temperature. Melting and alloying copper for producing bronze was possible with these crucibles themselves, thus making the most complicated and expensive metallurgical cycle, simple and cheap.