Newly discovered orichalcum ingots from Mediterranean sea: Further investigation

Abstract In February 2016, 47 ingots were found in the seabed of Contrada Bulala (Gela, CL, Italy) near the site where 40 ingots had previously been recovered. The ingots composition was determined to be a Cu - Zn alloy, dated by the archaeologist to the VI century B.C. This specific alloy was then known as Orichalcum. From an archaeological point of view, the first question raised about the new discovery was whether the ingots of the first and the second excavations belonged to the same shipwreck. Following the previous study, an elemental analysis was performed on the ingots from the second finding by using ICP-OS and ICP-MS techniques. The chemometric treatment of the analytical results …