Metallography of ancient bronzes: Study of pre-roman metal technology in the Iberian Peninsula

The metallographic examination of 26 bronze archaelogical objects is discussed together with the routine developed for this. The main aim was to define the bronze technology known by the Vaccei (a Celtiberian culture from Spain). All of the objects studied here come from cremation graves and their chronologies cover the last five centuries BC. The older objects have reflected great skill in forging, which compensated for casting problems. These casting problems decreased gradually, but were still important until the Roman conquest, when a real advance in casting techniques can be recorded. Since we were not authorized to cut or mount the objects in plastic, we had to hold them in our bare hands and polish only their outer surfaces, which caused many scratches and other marks. This report also illustrates some of the technical problems that might arise when studying archaeological materials.