Over much of its history, silver production has been tied to lead metallurgy. For the early Middle Ages in particular, it is widely accepted that galena, a lead sulfide, was the dominant source of silver. Since galena can be associated with silver in the range of 0.1–0.5%, rarely more, this implies that tons of lead must have been laboriously processed to extract kilograms of silver. While all extant physical evidence from mines, slag and the metal itself point to this being true, this study has found evidence that extremely rich silver ores must have played a key role in one of the major silver-using polities in the 8th and 9th centuries AD: the Early Islamic Caliphate. Metallography of 26 coins revealed that matte inclusions (silver-copper sulfides) are widely found in Umayyad and Abbasid dirhams, renowned for their exceptionally pure silver. Since matte preserved in the coins could not survive the strongly oxidising refining process required to separate lead from silver, this silver cannot have been produced solely from lead ore or through the use of lead. A new paradigm for the understanding of early medieval extractive metallurgy is required. ‘Dry’ silver ore consisting of nearly pure silver minerals were processed without lead and made a vital contribution to the Early Islamic silver supply. The results of this study have major technological and economic implications and overturn long-standing views on the history of silver metallurgy. They also have important consequences for provenance studies and the interpretation of elemental and lead isotope data.

在其大部分历史中，白银生产与铅冶金有关。特别是在中世纪早期，人们普遍认为方铅矿（一种硫化铅）是银的主要来源。由于方铅矿可以与 0.1-0.5% 的银相关联，很少更多，这意味着必须经过艰苦的处理才能提取数公斤的银。虽然来自矿山、矿渣和金属本身的所有现存实物证据都表明这是真的，但这项研究发现的证据表明，极其丰富的银矿石一定在 8 世纪和 9 世纪的主要使用银的政体之一中发挥了关键作用AD：早期伊斯兰哈里发。26 枚硬币的金相显示，在以异常纯银而闻名的倭马亚迪拉姆和阿拔斯迪拉姆中广泛存在哑光内含物（银-铜硫化物）。由于硬币中保存的磨砂无法在将铅与银分离所需的强氧化精炼过程中幸存下来，因此这种银不能仅由铅矿石或通过使用铅生产。需要一种理解早期中世纪提炼冶金的新范式。由几乎纯银矿物组成的“干”银矿石经过无铅加工，对早期伊斯兰白银供应做出了重要贡献。这项研究的结果具有重大的技术和经济意义，并颠覆了人们对银冶金历史的长期看法。它们还对来源研究以及元素和铅同位素数据的解释产生重要影响。这种银不能仅由铅矿石或通过使用铅生产。需要一种理解早期中世纪提炼冶金的新范式。由几乎纯银矿物组成的“干”银矿石经过无铅加工，对早期伊斯兰白银供应做出了重要贡献。这项研究的结果具有重大的技术和经济意义，并颠覆了人们对银冶金历史的长期看法。它们还对来源研究以及元素和铅同位素数据的解释产生重要影响。这种银不能仅由铅矿石或通过使用铅生产。需要一种理解早期中世纪提炼冶金的新范式。由几乎纯银矿物组成的“干”银矿石经过无铅加工，对早期伊斯兰白银供应做出了重要贡献。这项研究的结果具有重大的技术和经济意义，并颠覆了人们对银冶金历史的长期看法。它们还对来源研究以及元素和铅同位素数据的解释产生重要影响。由几乎纯银矿物组成的“干”银矿石经过无铅加工，对早期伊斯兰白银供应做出了重要贡献。这项研究的结果具有重大的技术和经济意义，并颠覆了人们对银冶金历史的长期看法。它们还对来源研究以及元素和铅同位素数据的解释产生重要影响。由几乎纯银矿物组成的“干”银矿石经过无铅加工，对早期伊斯兰白银供应做出了重要贡献。这项研究的结果具有重大的技术和经济意义，并颠覆了人们对银冶金历史的长期看法。它们还对来源研究以及元素和铅同位素数据的解释产生重要影响。