Gold.PT

Gold and silver productions during Iron Age at Western Iberia

Funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (2022.02608.PTDC).

PI: Elin Figueiredo

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.02608.PTDC

 

This project has its bulk work in the archaeometallurgical field, in the incorporations of new technologies and aesthetical tastes at the Western Iberian communities during Bronze Age/Iron Age and Iron Age/Romanisation transitions, as a result of social transformations. Despite the abundant gold resources in the Portuguese territory, studies on gold and silver technologies from different phases of Iron Age are not fully developed considering the Western-Atlantic and the Eastern-Mediterranean influences.

The present project will set a firm step on the creation of detailed and public comprehensible information on the Iron Age fine-gold-working techniques developed in the W Iberian territory, namely in the Portuguese territory. Study of more than one hundred gold and silver objects from Museu Nacional de Arqueologia will be performed and results will contribute to the new museography project and development of contents of the future “Treasures of Portuguese Archaeology” exhibition.

The project will also contribute to the valorisation of gold and silver traditional materials and techniques, bearing in mind the relevance of Portuguese filigree currently under appreciation for UNESCO's Intangible Heritage.

Output and outreach:

2025

  • [oral communication, invited] S. Serrano, E. Figueiredo, Fine gold and silver metallurgy: a view from the Gold.PT project,"From Boom to Bust" meeting -Forging Connections: Metal Circulation, Technology, and Social Networks between Atlantic Europe and the Mediterranean World in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, 21 January 2025, Évora, Portugal.

2024

  • [award] Best Young Researcher Presentation, 1st place, awarded to Sofia Serrano. XV Iberian Archeometry Congress, 21-24 October 2024, Aveiro, Portugal.
  • [oral communication] S. Serrano, S. Melikova, E. Figueiredo, Gold and silver twisted wires: the use of filigree during Iron Age, XV Iberian Archeometry Congress, 21-24 October 2024, Aveiro, Portugal.
  • [oral communication] E. Figueiredo, S. Serrano, S. Melikova, A. Rodrigues, Proto-historic gold and silver metallurgy in Western Iberia: examples from the Gold.PT project, 6th International Conference of Archaeometallurgy in Europe (AIE), 11-14 June 2024, Falun, Sweden.
  • [poster communication] S. Serrano, S. Melikova, E. Figueiredo, Preliminary results of a study on surface composition of silver proto-historic artefacts, XV Iberian Archeometry Congress, 21-24 October 2024, Aveiro, Portugal.
  • [poster communication] J. Muralha, T. Garrido, S. Serrano, E. Figueiredo, Metals and metallurgical remains at the 3000-1500 BCE site of Castanheiro do Vento (NE Portugal), 30th EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) Annual Meeting, 28-31 August 2024, Rome, Italy.
  • [poster communication] E. Figueiredo, S. Serrano, S. Figueiredo-Persson, The Gold.PT project and the study of a set of gold earrings decorated with granulated spheres, 30th EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) Annual Meeting, 28-31 August 2024, Rome, Italy.
  • [poster communication] S. Serrano, E. Figueiredo, Silversmithing in Proto-history: the study of silver artefacts from NW Iberia, IX Annual Meeting i3N, 2-3 May 2023, Praia da Vieira, Portugal.
  • [outreach] European Researcher's Night (NEI) hands-on and demonstrations: Metallurgy in Pre and Proto-history: contexts and technologies (CENIMAT/i3N; CHAM; MNA; ICONICTHEORY), Lisbon, 27 September 2024.

2023

  • [article] S. Serrano, A. Rodrigues, R.J.C. Silva, E. Figueiredo (2023), Study of an Iron Age Gilded Silver Earring by XRF, SEM-EDS and Multifocus OM, Heritage 6, 4187-4201. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050220
  • [article] E. Meunier, F. Dias, C. Bottaini, J. Fonte, A. Rodrigues, A. Lima, R.J.C. Silva, J. P. Veiga, M.F. Pereira, E. Figueiredo (2023), Later prehistoric tin mining in the Ervedosa mine (Vinhais, Portugal): evidence and context, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 15:43, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01748-x
  • [book chapter] E. Figueiredo, J. Fonte, E. Meunier, S. Serrano, A. Rodrigues (2023), Resumo de resultados do projeto IberianTin (2018-22) e resultados iniciais do projeto Gold.PT (2023-), in Arqueologia em Portugal 2023—Estado da Questão (ISBN: 978-972-9451-98-0), pp. 439-450. Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • [oral communication] E. Figueiredo, J. Fonte, E. Meunier, S. Serrano, A. Rodrigues, Resumo de resultados do projeto IberianTin (2018-22) e resultados iniciais do projeto Gold.PT (2023-), IV Congresso da Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (AAP), 22-25 November 2023, Coimbra, Portugal.
  • [oral communication] E. Figueiredo, Communicating Proto-historic gold-work: engaging the public to gestures and meanings, beyond sparkle and glitter, Heritage for a common future, Futures for a Common Heritage, VI CHAM International Conference, 12-15 July 2023, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • [oral communication] S. Serrano, A. Machado, E. Figueiredo, Earrings with complex goldwork from Iron Age Western Iberia: gold alloy composition and decoration techniques, Materiais 2023 – XXI Congresso da Sociedade Portuguesa de Materiais and XII International Symposium on Materials, 3-5 Abril 2023, Guimarães, Portugal.
  • [poster communication] S. Serrano, A. F. Machado, E. Figueiredo,Gold and silver Iron Age lunulae from western Iberia: a study by multifocus OM, pXRF and digital imaging processing, TECHNART 2023 – International conference on analytical techniques in art and cultural heritage, 7-12 May 2023 Lisbon, Portugal.
  • [poster communication] S. Serrano, A. F. Machado, R. J. C. Silva, E. Figueiredo, Proto-historic plain gold rings from western Iberia: a detailed study by multifocus OM, pXRF, micro-XRF and SEM-EDS, TECHNART 2023 – International conference on analytical techniques in art and cultural heritage, 7-12 May 2023 Lisbon, Portugal.
  • [poster communication] S. Serrano, A. F. Carvalho, E. Figueiredo, Late Bronze Age metals from Monte Cavalo (Vouzela, Viseu): characterization of the copper-based alloy and its corrosion, Materiais 2023 – XXI Congresso da Sociedade Portuguesa de Materiais and XII International Symposium on Materials, 3-5 Abril 2023, Guimarães, Portugal.
  • [outreach] European Researcher's Night (NEI) hands-on and demonstrations: Ingraving on the Iron Age: on stone and metal (CENIMAT/i3N; CHAM; MNA; ICONICTHEORY), Lisbon, 29 September 2023.
  • [outreach] EXPO FCT, atividade “Nem tudo o que brilha é ouro”, Departamento de Ciência dos Materiais, 19 Abril, Caparica, Portugal.

2022

  • [oral communication] S. Serrano, A. Rodrigues, A.F. Machado, E. Figueiredo, A Late Iron Age gold earring in the context of Proto-historic gold and silver technologies, EMRS Spring Meeting 2022, Cultural Heritage Symposium, Virtual Conference, 30 May - 3 Jun 2022.
  • [outreach] European Researcher's Night (NEI) hands-on and demonstrations: From raw materials to worked gold: arts and crafts (CENIMAT/i3N; CHAM; MNA; DGPC; ICONICTHEORY), Lisbon, 30 September 2022.
  • [master dissertation] S. Serrano, Study of gold alloy productions from Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, Mestrado em Conservação e Restauro, Departamento de Conservação e Restauro, FCT-UNL (orientação: E. Figueiredo; co-orientação: R. J. C. Silva). (colaborações: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Laboratório José de Figueiredo/DGPC)
  • [analysis] 111 artefacts of Gold and Silver in Museu Nacional de Arqueologia by pXRF and digital microscopy (E. Figueiredo, A. F. Machado, S. Serrano)
  • [report] Projeto 2: Sofia Serrano, Estudo detalhado de uma peça de ouro da Idade do Ferro por micro-XRF: determinação de ligas e corrosão (supervisor: E. Figueiredo) cadeira semestral, Mestrado em Conservação e Restauro, FCT-UNL.
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