1
Brass
MELISSA RATLIFF
Brass, a metal alloy of zinc and COPPER, appeared
relatively late in the evolution of metallurgy.
Zinc becomes a vapor at 907  C, ruling out
traditional smelting practices. Thus mass pro-
duction of brass was not achieved until the first
century BCE with the advent of the cementation
process. Here copper was placed in a lidded
crucible with zinc ore and charcoal and heated
to 1000  C. The zinc reduced to a gas and was
absorbed by the metallic copper to produce
brass (Hamilton 1996: 1618). This was then
melted, cast, and manipulated just like other
copper alloys for consumption.
While evidence for brass production is
scarce in ancient literature and archaeologi-
cally (apart from used crucibles), the existing
brass artifacts speak to successful attempts
by ancient metallurgists. As early as the third
millennium BCE brass objects have been
found in Greece, and in Iran and Iraq in the
second millennium BCE (Thornton and Ehlers
2003). Anatolia also boasts numerous finds
(Craddock 1978: 3) as well as the first minted
brass coins those of Mithradates VI of Pontos
(9075 BCE). The Romans took brass coinage to
a whole new level: first issued by C. Clovius for
Julius Caesar, with Augustus and succeeding
emperors following suit (Hamilton 1996: 18).
Production in the Roman world soon reached
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print page 1181.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah06044
the domestic sphere and by the second
century CE, 30 per cent of copper alloys made
by the Romans were brasses (Craddock 1978).
However new production ceased after the first
century CE and brass coins were devalued (see
MONEY DEVALUATION), but recycled metal sup-
plies meant brass objects remained. India con-
tinued with zinc and brass production, yet not
until the High Middle Ages was new produc-
tion seen in Europe, when brass finally over-
took bronze as the copper alloy of choice
(Rehren and Martinon-Torres 2008: 1712).
SEE ALSO: Bronze; Metallurgy, Greece and Rome.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Craddock, P. T. (1978) The composition of the
copper alloys used by the Greek, Etruscan and
Roman civilizations. 3. The origins and early
use of brass. Journal of Archaeological Science
5: 116.
Hamilton, E. G. (1996) Technology and social change
in Belgic Gaul: copper working at the Titelberg,
Luxembourg, 125 B.C.A.D. 300. Philadelphia.
Rehren, Th. and Martinon-Torres, M. (2008)
Naturam ars imitata: European brassmaking
between craft and science. In M. Martinon-
Torres and Th. Rehren, eds., Archaeology, history
and science: integrating approaches to ancient
materials: 16788. Walnut Creek, CA.
Thornton, C. P. and Ehlers, C. B. (2003) Early
brass in the ancient Near East. Institute for
Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies Newsletter 23: 38.