The evidence is perhaps circumstantial, but mines are the closest to the refinery (cupellation) site in the fort at Brompton/Pentrehelig on the Shropshire/Montgomery border a few miles to the west of the orefield.
Peter
Dr Peter Claughton - Mobile phone +44 (0)7831 427599
________________________________
From: Tim Young<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: ý07/ý09/ý2016 00:22
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [mining-history] Shropshire lead ore silver content
Dear Andy
I haven't worked on the Shropshire lead ores, so my answer is somewhat oblique. I have
been struck by the silver content of the some of the ores from Llanymynech (presumably)
being smelted for copper on the middle Iron Age site at Four Crosses. The silver is
associated with the iron oxide, rather than the copper minerals. Analysis of late Bonze Age
copper ingots from Cornwall (tentatively provenanced to the Welsh borders on the basis of
trace elements and lead isotopes) also shows a modest, but not insignificant, silver content.
Cheers
Tim
On 6 Sep 2016 at 13:10, Andy Cuckson wrote:
> I think it is well known that in the modern era, the silver content in Shropshire ores was generally low - mostly too low for economic extraction.
> Does anyone know of any evidence, and especially metallurgical analyses, which might establish that Shropshire ores were sufficiently rich in ancient times (Roman, for example) to justify silver extraction?
> Regards,
> Andy Cuckson
>
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Dr Tim Young MA PhD FSA FGS
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