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A “Luristan” Dagger: An Examination of Ancient Metallurgical Techniques1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Extract

The dagger (Plate X, 1; Fig. 1), now in private possession, was purchased in Teheran in 1960, and like most objects from dealers at that time was reported to have come from Resht on the Caspian Sea. Since the hilt had broken in antiquity and the recently soldered joint (Fig. 1) could be taken apart easily, the writers decided to submit the dagger to an extensive metallurgical examination by cutting from it small unobtrusive specimens. The compositions of the metallic parts were determined by spectrographic and chemical analyses and these results can be compared to other analyses of Luristan bronzes published recently elsewhere. In addition, the non-metallic core material within the hilt (Fig. 2) was also analysed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1964

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Footnotes

1

This research was completed and the paper virtually prepared for publication in ignorance of work being carried out in the Institute of Archaeology, London, on closely related problems. Recently, however, the authors have been in correspondence with Mrs. Maxwell Hyslop and are most grateful to her for information concerning both published and unpublished material.

References

2 Luristan Bronzes in the Nicholson Museum, Sydney.” Iran I, (1963), pp. 7177Google Scholar.

3 A cold shut is a defect produced during the casting of molten metal and is due either to the freezing of one surface before the other metal flows over it, or to the presence of interposing surface films or dirt on cold sluggish metal. It is most commonly observed at the meeting surface of two streams of metal which have come from different directions.