Archaeometallurgical investigations presented in this work focus on analysing the microstructure as well as mechanical properties of artefacts from the17th in form of findings performed from cast iron as well as copper casts. The presented research results extend the up-to-date knowledge and present the analysis of structural compounds found in the microstructure of the artefacts from the time dating back to the late Middle Ages in the region around Czestochowa, Poland. The tested samples were found in earth in the city centre under the present marketplace. The excavation works were carried out in summer in the year 2009, and have resulted in the excavation of artefacts in form of copper block of the weight of several kg. The excavation action was led by a group of Polish archaeologists collaborating with the local authorities. The performed pre-dating of this element determines the age of the artefacts as the 17th century AD. The excavations that have been taking place since 2007 have widened the knowledge of the former Czestochowa. Historians of this town have suggested, that the found weight and traces of metallurgical activity suggest that the exposed walls were an urban weight. The weight is visible on the 18th century iconography. What was find on the Old Market indicates that there was a lush economic life before the Swedish invasion in this part of Poland. Some buildings lost their functions or were changed, others died in fires, but new places developed. To describe the microstructure, with its structural components, research was done using microscopy techniques, both of the light as well as electron microscopy (SEM), also chemical composition analysis was carried out using the EDS technique, as well as tool for phase analysis were applied in form of X-Ray Diffraction (qualitative analysis), especially for the reason to describe the phases present in the excavated material. This research will help to obtain new information in order to investigate further archaeometallurgical artefacts, extending the knowledge about middle age metallic materials its usage and manufacturing.

With the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the characteristic temperatures and enthalpy of phase transformations were

defined for commercial AlSi9Cu3 cast alloy (EN AC-46000) that is being used for example for pressurized castings for automotive

industry. During the heating with the speed of 10oCmin-1

two endothermic effects has been observed. The first appears at the temperature

between 495 oC and 534 oC, and the other between 555 oC and 631 oC. With these reactions the phase transformation enthalpy comes up as

+6 J g-1

and +327 J g-1

. During the cooling with the same speed, three endothermic reactions were observed at the temperatures between

584 oC and 471 oC. The total enthalpy of the transitions is – 348 J g-1

.

Complimentary to the calorimetric research, the structural tests (SEM and EDX) were conducted on light microscope Reichert and on

scanning microscope Hitachi S-4200. As it comes out of that, there are dendrites in the structure of α(Al) solution, as well as the eutectic

(β) silicon crystals, and two types of eutectic mixture: double eutectic α(Al)+β(Si) and compound eutectic α+Al2Cu+β.