Gerry McDonnell
Archaeometallurgy
Metalworking Debris – Basic Classification
Material classified as slag or metalworking debris by archaeologists derives from a wide range of activities. Some of the debris can derive from a range of metalworking activities, e.g. hearth lining, or may derive from metalworking activities or other technological processes e.g. fired clay or may not derive from metalworking at all e.g. Fuel Ash Slag.
Therefore all material that may end up in boxes sent to the ‘slag specialist’ needs to be classified into material directly related to metalworking and material that may be derived from metalworking activities. These are defined as Diagnostic and Non-diagnostic residues (McDonnell 2001)
