Bronze Age metal artefacts found on Cyprus - metal from Anatolia and the Western Mediterranean

Abstract

Hundreds of Bronze Age metal artefacts excavated on archaeological sites in Cyprus have been analysed for their lead isotope and elemental composition in the Isotrace Laboratory, University of Oxford, in the years 1982-2002. In parallel, but in particular after 1995, hundreds of samples of minerals and slags collected from the mines and smelting sites around the Troodos Mountains were also analysed. Most of the results were published in various articles over the years, but the interpretation of some of the lead isotope data needs a current revision in view of new research conducted in Spain, Sardinia and southern France. It has been known that the lead isotope data for metal artefacts from the Cypriot Bronze Age sites shows that not all of the copper is consistent with origin from the Cypriot ores. In addition, the lead and silver artefacts found there must have been imported, because there are no lead or silver ores on Cyprus. The re-evaluation of the data shows that about 11 % of the analysed metal artefacts are consistent with the origin from the deposits in the Aegean and Turkey, while about 14 % with sources in the Western Mediterranean. This paper discusses in detail the current interpretation of the research into the sources of imported metal found in the Bronze Age context on Cyprus.