The Metallographic Characterization of Metal Artifacts Based on Late Medieval Examples

This work presents the metallographical observations of the chosen copper objects from the Late Middle Ages. Part of these studies is the analysis of metal relics from the Puck area conducted at the Faculty of Foundry, AGH-UST, in collaboration with the University of Warsaw. Medieval European cities were centers of trade and production of metal artifacts. Also in the Puck area, the manufacturing activities can be confirmed based on the metal findings. The aim of this study was to identify and systematize copper alloys used in the Late Medieval Period, on the basis of historic artifacts from Puck. The chemical composition analysis and microstructure observation were carried out. The research is at the first stage of an experiment of reconstructing the medieval alloys in order to study deeper their properties.