Evidence of Copper and Iron Deposits of the Protohistoric City of Temesa

With the name 'Temesa' (Latin Tempsa), the ancients identified a settlement located along the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, cited by sources as an international metal exchange emporium. The town is mentioned by Homer as being famous in the ancient world for the production of bronze, and in the I century A.D. Strabo wrote that there were rich copper mines near the city. Many years of study led to the recognition of Temesa as a complex urban system located between the Oliva and Savuto rivers, near Amantea. To confirm this hypothesis, we searched, in the surrounding rocky outcrops, for the presence of minerals useful for the extraction of iron and copper. Samples of 3 different rock stratifications were taken near the protohistoric settlement of Serra Aiello. The observation under an polarized reflected light microscope and the X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the presence of many minerals useful for the extraction of iron and copper in every sample. The heating of samples under both oxidizing and reducing conditions helped us to better quantify copper and iron minerals content causing, at the same time, the appearance of a marked paramagnetic behavior that could be associated with the presence of goethite. X ray fluorescence analysis showed a high concentration of iron and a low copper content.

Automated summary

Based on research, we confirmed that Temesa, located in Calabria, is a complex urban system between the Oliva and Savuto rivers, near Amantea. Samples from nearby rock formations revealed the presence of minerals for extracting iron and copper in every sample. Heating the samples helped quantify the content of copper and iron minerals, and showed a marked paramagnetic behavior associated with the presence of goethite. X-ray fluorescence analysis indicated high iron concentration and low copper content.