Deciphering the Iron Provenance on a Medieval Building Yard: The Case of Bourges Cathedral
1
Department of History, Université Paris 8, ARSCAN CNRS UMR 7041, CEDEX 93526 Saint-Denis, France
2
LAPA-IRAMAT, NIMBE, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
3
IRAMAT-CEB UMR5060, Université d’Orléans, CEDEX 2, 45071 Orléans, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Minerals 2020, 10(12), 1131; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121131
Received: 28 November 2020
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Revised: 11 December 2020
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Accepted: 14 December 2020
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Published: 16 December 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineralogy, Trace Elements and Isotopic Tracers in Archaeometallurgy)
This paper presents the provenance study of the iron reinforcements of Bourges Cathedral (13th c.): the links of a 100 m long iron chain, surrounding the eastern parts of the cathedral at the triforium level and 4.5 to 5 m long tie-rods consolidating the arches of the inner aisle at the same level. The analytical methodology is based on the determination of trace rare earth elements analyses by LA-ICP-MS in the slag inclusions of the artefacts and in the slag found on candidate production sites combined with statistical approaches. This chemical approach is crossed with archaeological and historical studies on the monument itself and on the production sites. Ninety-nine iron samples were analyzed on the bars and chains and 238 iron slags from 3 presumed areas of supply. For the first time, iron circulation and trade around a single building yard over a time of 30 to 40 years is studied with a precision never obtained before with historical sources. It shows that mainly four different metallurgical districts, local and more distant, supplied the building yard, mostly depending on the construction phases and also on the types of iron armatures needed.
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Keywords:
iron; provenance; Bourges Cathedral; trace elements; LA-ICP-MS
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MDPI and ACS Style
L’Héritier, M.; Dillmann, P.; Sarah, G. Deciphering the Iron Provenance on a Medieval Building Yard: The Case of Bourges Cathedral. Minerals 2020, 10, 1131. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121131
AMA Style
L’Héritier M, Dillmann P, Sarah G. Deciphering the Iron Provenance on a Medieval Building Yard: The Case of Bourges Cathedral. Minerals. 2020; 10(12):1131. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121131
Chicago/Turabian StyleL’Héritier, Maxime, Philippe Dillmann, and Guillaume Sarah. 2020. "Deciphering the Iron Provenance on a Medieval Building Yard: The Case of Bourges Cathedral" Minerals 10, no. 12: 1131. https://doi.org/10.3390/min10121131
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