Towards better reconstruction of smelting temperatures: Methodological review and the case of historical K-rich Cu-slags from the Old Copper Basin, Poland

Temperature is a crucial factor influencing the effectiveness of metal smelting process. When studied in historical slags it provides information on the evolution of smelting technologies over time and how humankind approached metal recovery. Methodological approaches to temperature reconstruction using pyrometallurgical slags vary and this study serves as a critical review of the methods used so far with the complex historical smelting site...