Peter,
Thanks to yourself and Rob Ixer for the interesting information on the two
main groups of grey-coloured copper sulphosalts - Farlerz ores.
However, I must make it clear that the ore sample photograph on the
Archaeology CMSMRPS website does not claim to be, or have any connection
with copper sulphosalts. The photograph shown is of fine grained dull
coloured galena (as against the larger grained bright galena) both of which
are to be found in the Combe Martin Mines. It is the finer grade ores which
have been known to have the higher silver content.
It is probably purely coincidence that local miners called, and still call
this fine grained dull coloured galena by the name of 'Falhers ore'. This
was probably a name picked up from German miners during the high medieval
period when they were employed in Combe Martin, the name being misunderstood
but never-the-lass having 'stuck' and used for their own purposes.
I recently interviewed a man in his eighties at Parracombe. His father was a
miner and his grandfather a miner in North Devon. He produced a rather
battered matchbox within which was a small piece of galena and a piece of
handwritten text. The text read "Falhers Ore 1852" with the name of the
mine. He said it had belonged to his great grandfather.
Trevor
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Claughton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 2:08 PM
Subject: Fahlerz ore
> Rob Ixer has asked me to refer list members to the following article which
> will provide some of the answers to recent discussion on Fahlerz ore -
>
> R.A.Ixer and R.A.D. Pattrick. 2003. 'Copper-arsenic ores and Bronze Age
> mining and metallurgy with special reference to the British Isles'. In:
> Mining and Metal Production Through the Ages, P.T. Craddock and J. Lang
> (eds.) The British Museum Press. 9-20. Available online
> http://www.rosiehardman.com/fahlerz.htm [accessed 9 March 2008]
>
> Peter
> ______________________________________________
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> Dr Peter Claughton,
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> 7RE.
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