Geochemical Reference Data on Ancient Iron Industry from Ariège, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales (Occitanie, France) and Andorra

Gaspard Pagès; Alexandre Disser

doi:10.5334/joad.200

Geochemical Reference Data on Ancient Iron Industry from Ariège, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales (Occitanie, France) and Andorra

Journal of Open Archaeology Data

Volume 14 (2026): Issue 0

By: Gaspard Pagès and Alexandre Disser

Open Access

|Jul 2026

Abstract

This dataset has been set up during two pluridisciplinary research projects, the EU-FEDER project ‘L’industrie du FER dans le MAssif des PYRénées (FERMAPYR)’ and the FR-PCR project ‘Le FER en Ariège et dans les Pyrénées-Orientales (FERAPO)’. It is composed of chemical data collected from archaeological material related to ancient ironmaking activities mainly located in the eastern part of the French Pyrenees and in surrounding metallurgical areas (Andorra, Montagne Noire). Material comprises smelting slag and iron ore samples collected thanks to extensive surveys involving dozens of contributors. Most measurements have been made using induced coupled plasma – mass spectrometry. After curation, data has been uploaded into the CHIPS database, granting enhanced findability and standardised documentation. This dataset will be used especially to assess the technical choices made for smelting iron ore in the area of study and to track the metallic products at different (from regional to continental) scales.

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