Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Completely Encrusted Find. |
This encrusted object contains a metal object that gave a very nice signal, but I have no idea what is in it. It is more flat and round than it appears in the photo. I have it a bit tilted in my hand. The crust is hard and I put off deciding how to attach it. I might explore taking off some of the crust mechanically before trying electrolysis, which at this point is what I'll probably do even if I am successful removing some of the crust mechanically.
I had that one object in electrolysis and interrupted it and planned to finish up that one, but I've been busy and haven't gotten back to it. Still trying to decide about the object shown above.
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The earliest evidence of lost wax casting in Europe has been found. Here are some excerpts from an article about that.
In 1884, one of the burials discovered at El Argar, the eponymous site of the El Argar culture, revealed the remains of a woman wearing an unusual silver bangle. This ornament appears to be the first evidence of a silver object produced by lost-wax casting in Bronze Age Iberia and, to date, in Western Europe. It demonstrates that El Argar metalworking technology was probably more complex and innovative than previously thought, opening up new perspectives on the organization of metalwork production and the degree of craft specialization in the earlier Bronze Age of south-eastern Spain......The presence and quantity of silver items in a grave have been used as a key criterion for identifying members of a dominant apical class. The importance of silver objects as social markers in El Argar society is emphasized.
Silver objects mostly take the form of personal ornaments, such as rings, several spiral-based items (e.g. armlets, hair-rings etc.) and diadems, but occasionally also occur as rivets, pommels, and awls. Most of these items are solid cast objects or wires forged by hammerwork to shape, but sheet silver objects produced by plastic deformation are also known (e.g. diadems, pottery appliqués). Decoration on metal objects of any kind, like embossing and chasing, only appears very occasionally in El Argar metalworking. The absence of complex shapes and the lack of technical investment have frequently been interpreted as evidence for small-scale production and for a low degree of craft specialization...
Here is the link for the rest of the article.
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Knowing a little about jewelry making techniques can help the detectorist better assess finds. For example, those cheap souvenir treasure coins will often be identified by the presence of mold seams from casting. That is often one ofthe first signs of a fake.
As you know, the treasure coins found on the Treasure Coast, known as cobs, were hammered and not cast. Cast coins will often show a clear seam running around the outside edge of the coin. There were also contemporary fake coins (or counterfeits) made by casting. Those can have good values if they are old and were meant to circulate along with genuine coins.
I've told before about when I took a lost wax casting class at a local community college. I'd recommend that for any detectorist who might be interested. In the class you'll learn how to make nice items out of old scrap silver or gold finds. The others in the class are always in need of inexpensive materials, so it also provides an opportunity to sell your scrap silver or gold.
Another benefit is that when you become familiar with the process, you will be ready to recognize items made by similar techniques.
Lost wax casting involves making a wax model, which is then used to create a mold with plaster or something like that. Then the mold is put in a kiln and the wax melted out and molten metal is then poured into the mold to make the object. Lost wax casting is used to create intricate items, like jewelry. Solid casting, on the other hand involves pouring molten metal directly into a mold without the use of any wax model. Always look for seams or sprue marks.
Lost wax object will often show microscopic holes, lumps of extraneous metal or irregular surface textures as well as the seams I already mentioned. Of course, counterfeiters might remove seams but even that might be detectable with the use of a microscope. As I've said before, a microscope is a valuable tool for inspecting finds.
Items are still made by lost wax casting. and some amateurs make their own items. They will not always mark the karat values or put any other identifying marks on their creations.
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| Surf Chart from Surfguru.com. |
A cold front came through. We had some good north winds Monday evening.
The high tides are still pretty high.
As you can see from the chart the surf will remain northish for a while.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net