Bronze working and tin trade in Bronze Age

Cyprus

- Where did the tin come from?

Ragnhildur Árnadóttir

1

Supervisor: Lena Sjögren

Level II Thesis in Classical Archaeology and Ancient

History autumn 2013

Department of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History

Stockholm University

2

Table of Contents1. INTRODUCTION.........................................31.1 Preface................................................31.2 Aims and research questions............................41.3 Method.................................................41.4 Material...............................................51.5 Terminology............................................51.6 Previous research......................................61.7 Chronology.............................................71.8 Tin resources..........................................8

2. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION..........................82.1 Bronze working in Cyprus...............................82.2 Tin in Mesopotamian writings..........................102.3 Taurus mountains......................................112.4 Mesopotamia and the tin resource in the Far East......122.5 Cornwall..............................................142.6 Mycenaean trade.......................................14

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION...........................154. REFERENCES..........................................175. FIGURE COMPENDIUM...................................19

Abstract

Cyperns bronstillverkning och handelsrelationer med

Taurus fjällen, Syrien, Palestina och Cornwall under

bronsåldern utreds. En ökning av brons med tenninnehåll

som ligger på ungefär 10 procent sker under bronsåldern

och detta kommer att undersökas inom ramarna för denna

uppsats. Dessa ökningar sker mest under MC och LC

perioden och syftet för denna uppsats kommer bland annat

3

vara att identifiera varför dessa ökningar sker. Vidare

kommer Cyperns tennresurser diskuteras. Slutsatsen är att

ökningen av brons med tenninnehåll sker på grund av nya

handelskontakter till den egeiska världen.

Cover illustration: A map showing the geographical

location of Cyprus, the Taurus mountains, Palestine and

Syria (from Google earth).

4

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Preface

Metal-using civilisations could not have developed in the

way they did without tin. In Ancient times tin was one of

the most rare metals in use, and to be able to produce

bronze there is a need of a tin content close to 10

percent.1 The Bronze Age in Cyprus starts when the

production of bronze begins and the Bronze Age ends when

the production of iron begins. This development is more

complicated then that, and it will be discussed in this

thesis. Objects from Cyprus with a tin content close to

10 percent are not known until the early 2nd millennium

B.C, dating to ca. 2000 B.C, which is the period of EC

III. This means that if the dating of the Bronze Age is

chosen because of the introduction of tin bronze, the

Bronze Age should have started later on in Cyprus.2

The Cypriot Bronze Age dates from 2300 to 1050 B.C.3

Because of Cyprus geographical location, it must have had

a major role in any sea- borne trade in the eastern

Mediterranean during the Bronze Age. Any East to West and

North to South sea- borne trades would have passed

1 Pigott 1999, 5; Pennhallurick 1986, 1.2 Swiny 1982, 69.3 Peltenburg 1989, xvi.

5

through Cyprus. In addition, Cyprus is rich in natural

copper and would have served as a source for copper and

as a way station or staging point.4 This would have made

Cyprus as an important way station where raw materials

could also be bought.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the increase of tin

bronze in Cyprus during the Bronze Age. This will be done

by discussing different geological areas which could be

the source of tin for the east Mediterranean. Then, the

impact of bronze production on metal trade will be

discussed. In addition, the occurrence of the increase of

tin bronze throughout the Bronze Age will be discussed.

1.2 Aims and research questions

A delimitation will be done by narrowing down the

geographical area to the island of Cyprus. Additionally

Cornwall, the Taurus mountains and Afghanistan will be

discussed for a possible location of tin recourse for

Cyprus.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the bronze

production throughout the Bronze Age in Cyprus. How the

production of bronze changes over time and which impact

metal trade had on the bronze production in Cyprus.

4 Muhly 1982, 251.

6

What impact did the bronze production in Cyprus have

on the metal trade in the Bronze Age?

Where did the tin come from?

In Cyprus the occurrence of tin bronzes increases

during the Bronze Age. How can this be explained?

1.3 Method

In Cyprus the occurrence of tin bronze increases during

the Bronze Age. To be able to get information’s about the

amount of tin bronze found in copper- based objects from

Cyprus during the Bronze Age, I will base my discussion

on the analytical research of Stuart Swiny. I will then

compare different scholars theories about where resources

of tin can be found in the world, and which of these

resources could have been the source of tin for Cyprus.

This will be done so I can compare and discuss if the

increase in tin bronze occur not only because of economic

growth but also because of new trade relationships.

As a conclusion I would like to be able to answer which

impact the bronze industry had on metal trade during the

Bronze Age. Then discuss where the source of tin came

from and finally discuss the reason why tin bronze

increased from nothing at all in the EC period to 26

percent in the MC period to 63 percent in the LC period.

7

The problematic issues of this thesis are the lack of

tin-melting slags and cassiterite pebbles found in

archaeological contexts and the lack of analyses done on

artefacts made of tin bronze found in Cyprus. In

addition, there seems to be a lack of new studies by

scholars on this subject.

1.4 Material

The results of analytical studies done on copper- based

objects from Cyprus will be analysed, in addition to 14

shaft- hole axes from Cyprus, and couple of Mycenaean

influenced objects which have been found throughout

Europe.

Since there are quite a lot of diverging theories about

the origins for the tin used in Cypriot bronze

production, I will not be able to deal with them all.

Instead I will focus on the material from Cornwall, the

Taurus mountains, Mesopotamia and Afghanistan. In

addition, I will discuss theories by scholars that will

be focusing on changes in trade relationships during this

time period and what could have caused these changes.

1.5 Terminology

Cassiterite (SnO2)

8

Cassiterite is a mineral that is present in all the tin

that has been found in the world today. This mineral is a

stable oxide that remains unchanged when it becomes

weathered out of lodes to form concentration of alluvia,

also called stream tin. In Cornwall, alluvial pebbles of

tin have been found of the size of eggs. The melting

point of this special metal is 232°C, which is quite low

compare to the melting point of other metals. If tin is

added to copper it will increase in hardness and the

melting point will decrease.5

Arsenical- Copper

Arsenical- Copper is also known by the name arsenical-

bronze. These terms are used over alloy of two metals,

arsenic and copper metals.6 The arsenic and copper alloys

are blended together to produce a bronze object. The

effects of copper- arsenic fumes can cause some health

problems. Tin was a more expensive raw material than

Copper-arsenic and harder to get.7

Tin Bronze

In recent archaeometallurgical discussions the term

bronze has been used to give a name to the tin- copper

alloy, which is the use of tin and copper metals blended

together to produce an bronze object.8 To be able to get

5 Pennhallurick 1986, 1, 3, 5.6 Pigott 1999, 3.7 Pennhallurick 1986, 4.8 Pigott 1999, 3.

9

a “true” tin bronzes, the copper alloy has to have a tin

content close to 10 percent.9

1.6 Previous research

Stuart Swiny based his research on analytical studies of

67 unpublished examples in addition to analyses on

Cypriot objects produced during the Cypriot Bronze Age. 10

According to Swiny the reason that all of the copper-

based objects from the LC III period was of tin bronze

could be a result of the Mycenaean trade that flourished

on Cyprus in LC II, or that the tin bronze followed the

Aegean refugees that arrived in the LC III A period.11

According to Yener and Vandiver there are sites in

Anatolia that have produced tin from local tin resources,

they have been excavating in an area located in the

Taurus mountains. They point out tin processing at

Göltepe and its contemporary mine Kestel. They point out

that the slope that Kestel is located on, is a place that

is quite geologically distinct with mineral resources

such as; granite, marble, gneiss, and quartzite12 Yener

and Vandiver argue that Anatolia could have hosted tin

resources and exported the tin to Cyprus and the Aegean

world.

9 Pigott 1999, 5.10 Swiny 1982, 69.11 Swiny 1982, 74 (Table. 2), 77.12 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 216.

10

James D. Muhly has been investigating the origins of the

tin used in the Aegean world for a long time. Muhly has

made quite many arguments against new discoveries of tin

resources, especially in the Taurus mountains. For the

resource of tin in the EC III and MC period, Muhly points

out the missing puzzles in Yener and Vandelever and that

the results does not show large enough amounts of tin to

draw any conclusions from, with the non existing evidence

of objects made of tin bronze in the Taurus mountains. He

suggests a contact with the Levant and a tin resource as

far as Afghanistan.13 Muhly discusses a long distance

trade with Cornwall in the LC period when the Mycenaean

trade was flourishing. He points out that there is a lot

of evidence of tin production in Cornwall as far back as

2000 B.C. He will not make any claims about Mycenaeans

travelling all the way to Cornwall, but that there was a

trade route across Europe through a series of stops on

their way from the north to the east. 14

1.7 Chronology

The Cypriot Bronze Age is a chronological period spanning

from 2300- 1050 B.C. The Bronze Age is broken down into 3

main periods, Early Cypriot period (EC) which occur from

2300 to 1900 B.C, Middle Cypriot period (MC) which occur

from 1900 to 1600 B.C., and Late Cypriot period (LC)

13 Muhly 1999, 20,21.14 Muhly 1985, 287-8.

11

which occur from 1600 to 1050 B.C. These main periods are

then broken down into I, II and III. The EC chronological

order is; EC I 2300- 2075 B.C, EC II 2075- 2000 B.C, EC

III 2000- 1900 B.C. The MC chronological order is; MC I

1900- 1800 B.C, MC II 1800- 1725 B.C, MC III 1725- 1600

B.C. The LC chronological order is; LC I 1600- 1450 B. C,

LC II 1450- 1200 B.C, and LC III 1200- 1050 B.C.15

The Chronological period of the Bronze Age in Britain,

Cornwall is a period spanning from 2500- 700 B.C. The

Early Bronze Age (EBA) is dated from 2500 to 1500 B.C.

The Middle Bronze Age (MBA) is dated from 1500 to 1000

B.C. The Late Bronze Age (LBA) is dated from 1000 to 700

B.C.16

The Chronological period of the Bronze Age in the Levant

is a period spanning from 3300- 1400 B.C. The Bronze Age

is broken down into 3 main periods, Early Bronze Age (EB)

from 3300 to 2000 B.C, Middle Bronze Age (MB) from 2000

to 1550 B.C and Late Bronze Age (LB) from 1550 to 1200

B.C. These main periods are then broken down into I, II

and III, and the EB and MC will be discussed. The EB

chronological order is: EB I 3300- 3000 B.C, EB II 3000-

2700 B.C, EB III 2700- 2200 B.C, EB IV 2200- 2000 B.C. MB

I has the same definition of chronological order as the

EB IV period. The MB chronological order is: MB II A

15 Peltenburg 1989, xvi.16 AONB Historic Enviroment Action Plans.

12

2000- 1750 B.C, MB II B 1750- 1650 B.C, MB II C 1650-

1550 B.C. The LB period spans from 1550 to 1200 B.C.17

1.8 Tin resources

The island of Cyprus is a part of an ocean crust which

makes the island not appropriate for the formation of tin

ore deposits. Tin is always found in association with

convergent plate margins and granitic bodies which are

absent in Cyprus.18 Figure 1 shows the stanniferous areas

of the world in modern time. These stanniferous areas are

where the tin resources of the world are found. As shown

on the map, there are no tin resources found near the

Aegean world. The geographical area of Cornwall shows a

resource of tin, as well as central Asia, near

Afghanistan. The area of the Taurus mountains shows no

resource of tin in modern time.

2. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

2.1 Bronze working in Cyprus

Based on a present analytical study, the use of tin

bronze in Cyprus occurred for the first time during the

EC III/ MC I period. During this time period tin bronze

17 Kotter 2008.18 Swiny 1982, 71.

13

had established itself as a basic alloy. Although the tin

bronze had established itself on the island, arsenic

copper was also still in use on the island.19 Fourteen

shaft- hole axes from the MC period have been found on

Cyprus. Six of these axes have been analysed. The results

of the analysis show the amount of tin ranging from 8.2

percent to 17.9, meaning that these axes are made of of

true tin bronze. It could then be presumed that the other

8 axes are also of true tin bronze.20 These axes have

often been pointed out as a Syrian import because of

their closest parallels were found in the Levant near

Syria, but there are no reasons to not assume that they

could be of a local Cypriot production.21

In an analytical research done by S. Swiny, he works with

total of 195 samples from copper-based objects from

Cyprus. In the EC period the pure copper is the metal

most used with 75 percent of the objects containing

copper.22 The amount of arsenic found in the objects

during the EC period is 25 percent. The amount of arsenic

found in the objects decrease to 21 percent in the MC

period and to 20 percent in the LC period.23 The amount of

Copper does also decrease from 75 percent in the EC to 21

percent in the MC and to 17 percent in the LC. The amount

of tin is the mineral content that shows a great increase19 Muhly 1999, 17.20 Muhly 1999, 20.21 Muhly 1999, 20; Swiny 1982, 74.22 Swiny 1982, 71.23 Swiny 1982, 74 (table).

14

during the Bronze Age, it increases from 0 percent in the

EC period to 26 percent in the MC period to 63 percent in

the LC period.24 Much of the objects in LC II are made of

tin bronze and in the LC III period all objects consists

of tin bronze. This large amount of tin found in the LC

period must come from import and this must have had a big

effect on the islands economy.25 Based on this study, it

can be concluded that copper dominates the metal

production in Cyprus during the EC period. Something

happens in the span between EC to MC, when 47 percent of

the objects contain tin and arsenic while the pure copper

objects decrease to 53 percent. The use of different

metals is balancing out in the MC, the production of

objects made of pure copper is not the main product

anymore. In the LC period the production of tin bronze

seems to take over the whole metal production on the

island.

Analytical studies done in the 1950´s by J. R. Stewart

shows the results of 40 samples from the EC cemetery

Bellapais Vounous in Cyprus. The results of the analysis

shows that there are only two objects that contain around

10 percent of tin, and that these are objects from the EC

III and MC I period.26 The results from Stewarts studies

show a parallel chronology to Swinys analytical study.

24 Swiny 1982, 74 (table).25 Swiny 1982, 77.26 Swiny 1982, 69, 70.

15

From these three studies showed above one can draw the

conclusion that the objects analysed from Cyprus show no

use of tin in its production methods until 2000 B.C. This

occurs because tin is not a natural resource on the

island, the tin used to make bronze objects must have

come to the island through trade. When tin starts to be

used in production on the island in the MC period, the

arsenic is still in use. Could this situation be

explained by the high price and value that tin had during

this time? Or new trade contacts?

2.2 Tin in Mesopotamian writings

There has been a mention of tin in Mesopotamian texts.

These are the earliest and best documented literary

sources in ancient time. Therefore these texts are going

to be looked at for a better understanding of the tin

trade. The text showed below is dated to approximately

2500 B.C.27 How tin bronze is made is mentioned in these

texts: “ZABAR/ siparru (bronze), this is done by adding

AN*AN/annaku (tin) to URUDU/eru (coppar). And a more

detailed text tells about the making of tin in a text

from Palace G at Ebla” 3 minas, 20 shekels of tin were

added to 30 minas of copper in order to make 200 “sticks”

of bronze weighing 10 sheklels each”. The outcome is 2000

27 Myhly 1985, 281.

16

shekels of bronze with a tin: copper ratio of 1:9, or a

classic 10 percent tin bronze.28

There is a mention of tin coming from a distant eastern

source passing through the Taurus mountain into Anatolia

in an Old Assyrian cuneiform text. It is textually

documented from the early second millennium B.C.29 This

could explain the theory of the Taurus mountain as a

resource of tin for Cyprus as discussed below.

2.3 Taurus mountains

Göltepe and its contemporary tin mine Kestel are located

in the central Taurus mountains. The location of the site

provides access to both Central Anatolia and Cilician

plains and the Mediterranean coast. In Figure 2 the

location of the Taurus mountains are shown. The site is

known for the earliest use of tin bronze in southwest

Asia, dating to approximately 3200- 2000 B.C.30 24 ceramic

fragments were analysed by Yener and showed elemental

identification of tin in these fragments.The excavation

at Göltepe and Kestel has brought to light one of the

earliest development of the use of tin used to make

bronze.31 The analytical studies of the material from the

excavated site are examples that can indicate a resource

28 Muhly 1985, 280-1.29 Muhly 1993, 252. 30 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 209.31 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 211.

17

for tin in the area? According to Yener the lack of tin

in this metalliferous zones of the Taurus mountains is

because the Turkish Geological Survey program do not

analyse tin. She points out though that in recent

archaeometallurgical surveys tin was located at Kestel

and Bolkarsdag.32 Göltepe flourished during the EB II/II

period in the time when the Kestel mine was in use. There

has been found parallel artefacts as for example;

cermamics and groundstone tolls that demonstrate

interaction between the two sites.33 The hematite veins

has showed to contain 1.5 percent of tin, and 1 percent

of tin in quartz schist and marble at Kestel.34 The

Examples given from Götepe is that the ceramic fragments

may have hold some stanniferous materials inside, but

there is no mention of Cassiterite found, and the other

evidence are slag that contain as little as 1 percent

tin.35

Muhly has another perspective about tin coming from the

Taurus mountains. He says that a working hypothesis would

be that if locally made artefacts were found of tin

bronze, one can assume that the raw materials of these

artefacts are local. Modern geological research show an

existence of local ore cassiterite, but there is no

evidence to show that the inhabitants of this area used

32 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 213.33 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 14.34 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 215.35 Yener & Vandiver 1993, 238.

18

this resource of cassiterite. Could this could mean that

this resource was used for export only, or the area was

ruled by a foreign power which took advantage of the

resources. 36 Yener and Vandiver have analysed 233

artefacts from the EB period and these analyses show few

ppm (parts per million) of tin, which is not enough

amount of tin for any parallels to be drawn from it.37 The

evidence of tin production in the Taurus is not as strong

as the evidence from Mesopotamia and Afghanistan, which

Muhly points out quite clearly.

Cilicia is located near the Taurus mountains and the

spread of metal industry to Cilicia can be tracked

through objects from a hoard found at Soloi-Pompeiopolis.

This hoard found at the site contains of 77 metal objects

found in a clay vase. 10 of the objects were analysed and

five of these objects were bronze objects, produced with

the average of 9.1 percent of tin. This group of

metalwork is typologically identical to group of EB IV

metal work from Byblos, Toö Barsip, Jericho, Tell Hesi

and other sites near Carchemish.38 This could explain the

trade route which is described in the Old Assyrian

cuneiform text in chapter 2.2.

36 Muhly 1993, 239.37 Muhly 1993, 240.38 Muhly 1999, 20.

19

2.4 Mesopotamia and the tin resource in the Far

East

By comparing S. Swinys studies about the metal production

on Cyprus and the metal production of Palestine during

the EC period, tin is absent in both places during this

period. During the EC period, Palestine and Cyprus both

had about 25 percent arsenical copper in objects that

have been analysed from both areas. During the same

period Syria and Anatolia seem to have a more developed

metal production and were using larger quantities of both

tin and arsenic alloys in their production.39 In addition,

Cypriot pottery appears more often in Palestine than in

any other area beyond Cyprus.40A burial cave has been

found near Enan, north of Hazor, dated to the EB IV

period and it shows parallels with Cyprus in both burial

style and metal objects that were found at the burials.

Many of the objects were made of bronze, and Muhly states

“that the bronze is certainly the same as they used in

making the bronzes from Soloi-pompeiopolis and from the

Levant” discussed in chapter 2.3. Muhly suggest this tin

source came as far as from Afghanistan, by trade route

that went overland from Mesopotamia to Syria.41 In figure

2. The location of Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, the

Taurus mountains and Cyprus are shown. Afghanistan is

located in Central Asia and is quite far away from 39 Swiny 1982, 76.40 Knapp 1985, 242.41 Muhly 1999, 20,21.

20

Cyprus, so the trade route from Afghanistan to Cyprus

must have had quite many stops on its way.

In the MC period the metallurgical development in Cyprus

is quite different compared to Anatolia and the Levant,

the amount of tin and arsenic alloys is of 47 percent

while in Anatolia and the Levant the amount is between 68

percent to 90 percent. This shows the lack of

metallurgical development in Cyprus compared to the

mainland.42 There are many good examples that support

contacts between Cyprus and Mesopotamia during the EB and

MB period. In an analytical research a number of bronze

artefacts have been dated to the Levantine EB IV period,

which spam from 2200-2000 B.C. These bronze artefacts

seem to be the earliest bronze objects from Palestine and

Syria, which dates to the same period that the earliest

bronze object found in Cyprus. This distribution of metal

in the EB IV could have had an impact on the development

of bronze production in Cyprus, as Cyprus lies midway

between Syria and Cilicia.43

The beginning of bronze metallurgy and its increase

during the MC period is a development that has nothing to

do with the Early Bronze Age bronze metallurgy in

Anatolia.44As Muhly points out before the lack of

cassiterite in the Tarsus (see chapter 2.3), makes it

42 Swiny 1982, 76.43 Muhly1999, 20.44 Muhly 1999, 20.

21

likely that the northern bronze industry at Tarsus had

nothing to do with the introduction of bronze to Cyprus.

The Early Bronze Age in Cyprus has been associated with

influences from Anatolia, especially Cilicia and the site

of Tarsus. And as discussed in chapter 2.3 the tin

resource for Cyprus could have been the Bolkardag region

of the Taurus mountains, though the ores from Bolkardag

are not a convincing tin source within the Early Bronze

Age context.45 Therefore could it be that the bronze

industry was parallel to the Mesopotamian one?

The beginning of bronze production in Cyprus during the

latter part of the 3rd millennium to early 2nd millennium

must be related to parallel development in Syria,

Palestine, and southern Mesopotamia.46

2.5 Cornwall

There is only one place in Europe where the evidence of

smelting of cassiterite has been found in the Bronze Age,

and that is in Cornwall.47 The tin resources found in

Cornwall are known to have been used as early as 2000

B.C. until modern times.48 Plenty of examples support the

production of tin in Cornwall throughout the Bronze Age.

In a layer that dates to the EBA period a dagger has been

found in context of rich depose of alluvial cassiterite,

45 Muhly 1999, 20.46 Muhly 1999, 20.47 Muhly 1985, 278.48 Muhly 1985, 287.

22

and the only known tin- smelting slag found in an

archaeological context lays there too. In a layer

belonging to structure B at the site of Trevisker Round,

St. Eval, Cornwall, alluvial cassiterite pebbles have

been discovered and the layer is dated to Late Bronze

Age.49

The evidence of tin production is shown here, but the

possibility of a trade contact that moves the Cornwall

tin to Cyprus is not as obvious and will be discussed

below. Could it be that the Mycenaean had a complicated

trade system that went all the way to the north?

2.6 Mycenaean trade

Mycenaean Greece was one of the political and economic

powers in the Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age

and Mycenaean artefacts have been found throughout

Europe. A Pelynt dagger with Mycenaean origin was found

in a Late Bronze Age layer at Cornwall.50 In addition a

trade route has been suggested through the Rhone Valley

and the south of France and then going by see- fare to

Greece, and finally from Greece to the East Mediterranean

(see figure 3.).51 However this does not suggest that the

49 Muhly 1985, 287.50 Penhallurick 1986, 136,137.51 Muhly 1985, 288.

23

Mycenaean travelled all the way to Cornwall. On the

contrary, a complicated trade system could have existed,

that transported tin from Cornwall to the island of

Cyprus.

The only deposits that clearly demonstrate extensive

copper working in an archaeological context is found in

Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest

evidence for copper working in Cyprus, is from an

archaeological context dating to EC III to MC period. In

the LC period Copper from Cyprus was widespread.52 The

reason for the copper of Cyprus spreading through Europe

in the LC period could have been because Cyprus started

to participate in international trade around 1700- 1400

B.C. Before this period Cyprus only had contact with the

Levant and Egypt but in the MC III/LC period they started

to make new contacts with the Aegean area. Aegean import

grew in Cyprus between 1400-1200 B.C and in the 13th

century Mycenaean pottery was copied in Cypriot White

painted wheal made ware.53

3. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The impact that the bronze production had on the metal

trade in the Bronze Age is first of all the need for tin

to produce tin bronze. Because of the need of this rare

and expensive metal the long distance trade and sea fare 52 Knapp 1985, 239,240.53 Knapp 1985, 241,243.

24

needed to improve. During the Late Bronze Age, Cyprus

improves it trade relations and Cypriot copper becomes an

export. Because of the flourishing export of tin, Cyprus

could gain a more stable economy and better relationships

with other cultures, and because of these cultures

increasing need of Cyprus copper resources the island

gained more contacts.

The questions about tin resources and the explanation of

tin increase are going to be discussed together below.

In the EC I-II period I think that the conclusion to

draw from other scholars theories and research is that

the tin bronze was not being produced during this time.

Tin had not been introduced to the island during this

time period and instead arsenic was used to make

arsenical- bronze. The resources of tin in the world are

not that many as tin is one of the rarest metals

available. The different theories concerning the source

of tin for the east Mediterranean have been discussed

above. In The EC III throughout the MC periods tin is

introduced to Cyprus and tin bronze is being produced.

The discussion about the Taurus mountain and the Levant

concerns these periods. The theory of the tin in the

Taurus being the resource of tin for Cyprus should be

kept in mind, because of the relationship between regions

near the mountains and Cyprus during the EC period. There

are more examples to support the parallel development in

25

bronze production between Cyprus, Syria and Palestine,

which makes the connection with these areas a stronger

possibility for the development of bronze in Cyprus

during the EC III to the MC period. Cornwall seems to

have the best examples of a tin production during the

Bronze Age and the trade route from Cornwall through

France then to Greece seems a good choice. Then the

question is if the tin made its way all the way to

Cyprus. I suggest that it is a possibility; the Mycenaean

trade is flourishing in the LC period and there is a lot

of Mycenaean pottery found in Cyprus during the LC

period. It is also known that the Mycenaeans were present

in Cyprus. This could be the reason for the high increase

in tin in Swinys analysis during the Late Bronze Age,

where tin starts to be the dominant metal in use.

One of the main reasons why there is so little knowledge

about the ancient tin industry is because there has not

been found enough tin ore in archaeological contexts. In

addition, newer studies from scholars are missing and

there seems to be some kind of standstill in the research

on this subject. I hope this thesis will shed some light

on how important it is to continue studies concerning the

bronze production in Cyprus, especially the origin of tin

resources for tin in the east Mediterranean. This is

important in order to get a better understanding of the

metal trade and its impact on Cyprus during the Bronze

Age.

26

4. REFERENCES

Literary references

Knapp. A. 1985. Alashiya, Caphtor/Keftiu, and Eastern

Mediterranean Trade: Recent Studies in Cypriote

Archaeology and History. Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 12, No. 2,

pp. 231- 250.

Muhly. J. 1999. Copper and Bronze in Cyprus and the

Eastern Mediterranean. Pigott. V. C. (ed). The

archaeometallurgy of the Asian old world. Philadelphia.

Muhly. J. 1993. Early Bronze Age Tin and the Taurus.

American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp. 239-253.

Muhly. J. 1985. Sources of Tin and the Beginnings of

Bronze Metallurgy. American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 89, No. 2,

pp.275-291.

Muhly. J. 1982. The Nature of Trade in the LBA Eastern

Mediterranean: The Organization of the Metals´Trade and

the Role of Cyprus. Muhly, J, Maddin, R, Karageorghis, V

(ed.). International archaeological symposium “Early

metallurgy in Cyprus 4000-500 BC”. Act of the international

archaeological symposium Early metallurgy in Cyprus 4000-500 BC: Larnaca,

Cyprus 1-6 june 1981, Nicosia.

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Peltenburg. E. (ed). 1989. Early society in Cyprus. Edinburgh.

Pennhallurick. R. 1986. Tin in antiquity: its mining and trade

throughout the ancient world with particular reference to Cornwall.

London.

Pigott. V. (ed). 1999. The archaeometallurgy of the Asian old world.

Philadelphia.

Swiny. S. 1982. Correlations Between the Composition and

Function of Bronze Age Metal Types on Cyprus. Muhly, J,

Maddin, R, Karageorghis, V (ed.). International

archaeological symposium “Early metallurgy in Cyprus

4000-500 BC”. Act of the international archaeological symposium Early

metallurgy in Cyprus 4000-500 BC: Larnaca, Cyprus 1-6 june 1981,

Nicosia.

Yener. K & Vandiver. P. 1993. Tin Processing at Göltepe,

an Early Bronze Age Site in Anatolia. American Journal of

Archaeology, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp. 207- 238.

World Wide Web references

AONB Historic Enviroment Action Plans.

http://www.historiclandscape.co.uk/timeline_bronze_age.ht

ml - 13.01.2014

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Kotter. W. 2008. BAESL Archaeological Period Codes. Utah.

http://library.weber.edu/cm/wkotter/baeslcodes.cfm -

07.01.2014.

Figure references

Google earth. Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO –

13.01.2014.

Muhly. J 1973. Tin Trade Routes of the Bronze Age: New

evidence and new techniques aid in the study of metal

sources of the ancient world. American Scientist, Vol.61, No. pp.

404-413.

Sainsbury. 1969. Tin Resources of the World. GEOLOGICAL

SURVEY BULLETIN 1301. Washington.

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5. FIGURE COMPENDIUM

Figure 1. A map of the stanniferous areas of the world. (from Sainsbury 1969, 20, fig.1.)

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Figure 2. A map showing the geographical location of Cyprus, the Taurus mountains, Syria, Palestine and Afghanistan (from Google earth).

Figure 3. The tin route from Cornwall to the mainland of Greece (Muhly 1973, 408, fig.2.)

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