The ancient mine of Servette (Saint-Marcel, Aosta Valley, Western Italian Alps) : a mineralogical, metallurgical and charcoal analysis of furnace slags

The Cu-Fe mining district of Servette is located in the valley of Saint-Marcel (Val d'Aosta) at about 1800 m a.s.l. in the western Italian Alps. A large furnace slag deposit occurs near the Servette mine. Slags are mainly constituted by silicate and oxide in a glassy matrix, with disseminated sulphides and iron-copper alloys, and they record temperatures of 1380-1100°C. Radiocarbon dating of slag charcoals has shown that metallurgy in this site took place around AD 890-980. The charcoal analysis has shown that coniferous wood was mainly utilized, and intensive exploitation over the centuries led to a change in the composition of the local woods.