Late Roman metallurgical site patterns, the case studies of two smelting sites in Western Cyprus

Abstract

During the last decades it has been shown that copper production in Cyprus continues in large scale at least until the 7th and perhaps until the 8th c. CE (Kassianidou, 2013a; Socratous et al., 2015; Kassianidou et al., 2021), and not only until the 4th c. CE as suggested in the past (Bruce, 1937, Zwicker, 1986). Nevertheless, the character of the Late Roman copper production, its spatial organisation, scale and significance are still being explored (Kassianidou, 2022). This study aims to investigate the procurement of raw materials used in the copper smelting practices during the Late Roman period in Arsinoe, current Polis Chrysochous, Western Cyprus. Two copper slag heaps located within the Polis Chrysochous area, one dating between the 3rd and the 8th c. CE and the second one between the 4th and the 6th c. CE, are used as case studies to explore and understand the human effort in bringing together all the materials needed for the copper smelting industry. More specifically, human labour, ore, fuel, flux, clay, and water are major components in the smelting process. The availability and accessibility of these materials at two different smelting sites and landscapes have been investigated through Geographical Information Systems (GIS) spatial tools combined with previous analytical studies (Socratous et al., 2015; Sdralia et al., 2023). We suggest that the Argaka slag heap is the outcome of an industrial oriented metallurgy prioritising access to human labour, the presence of the nearby city and proximity to the coast through which the copper would have been exported, in establishing its location. In contrast, the Pelathousa slag heap formed at a small scale metallurgical site, located much closer to all the materials needed and less susceptible to labour force considerations.