Analysis of Heavy Metals in Smoke Deposits in the Limewash of the Royal Artillery Factory of Seville (17th Century): Contributions to the Location of the Furnaces

Abstract

The Royal Artillery Factory of Seville in Spain originated from pre-existing private bronzefoundries dating from the 16th century. The paper analyses the stratigraphy of wall claddingin the areas traditionally known as the‘Old Foundry’and the‘New Foundry’, through itscharacterization by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX), micro-X-rayfluorescence (μ-XRF) and micro-X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD), in order to analyse the metal deposits that have accumulated sincethe 17th century. The data obtained allowed the verification of the available historiographicalinformation and the location of the original bronze smelting furnaces. The analysis of patinasdeposited on the overlapping layers of lime also confirmed that neither the raw materials northe composition of the alloys used presented any substantial changes